Patna, June 11: Former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi on Monday claimed that BJP ally and RLSP chief and Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha will join the Grand Alliance soon.

"If Upendar Kushwaha said 'no' to joining the Grand Alliance, his 'no' means 'yes'. Try to understand it. He will join Grand Alliance soon," Manjhi told the media. 

Manjhi spoke here a day after Bihar Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav invited Kushwaha, who had skipped an NDA meeting in Patna last week, to join the Grand Alliance in the state which includes the RJD and the Congress. 

But Kushwaha on Sunday denied speculation that he was contemplating joining the RJD-led alliance and leaving the BJP-led NDA. He said the RLSP will be a part of the NDA in the 2019 polls. 

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Latur, Nov 17: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Sunday accused the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of spreading disinformation in Maharashtra, asserting that his party has implemented all its poll guarantees in the southern state.

Addressing a press conference, he expressed confidence that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), comprising the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP), will win the November 20 assembly elections and give Maharashtra a better government.

He said the Congress government in Karnataka has implemented its five key guarantees, including Rs 3,000 monthly assistance to homemakers, loan waivers up to Rs 3 lakh for farmers, Rs 25 lakh health insurance per family, Rs 4,000 monthly allowance for unemployed youth, and free bus travel for women.

The funds are being directly credited to women’s bank accounts, said the Congress leader.

“The skyrocketing inflation has burdened citizens immensely,” said Shivakumar, and slammed the BJP over the collapse of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's statue in Sindhudurg district in August.

"They even misused funds for this. As a citizen, I feel ashamed,” he said.

He also accused the BJP of not fulfilling its earlier promises, including a railway coach factory in Latur that was supposed to create 50,000 jobs.

“Not a single coach has been produced, nor has anyone gained employment,” he said, alleging that the BJP and PM Modi are running a disinformation campaign.

The Karnataka deputy CM predicted that MVA would win over 175 of the state’s 288 assembly seats and appealed to people to elect late CM Vilasrao Deshmukh’s sons Amit Deshmukh and Dhiraj Deshmukh in Latur City and Latur Rural constituencies, respectively.

He also released the ‘Latur Report’, detailing sitting MLA Amit Deshmukh’s contributions to the constituency from 2019 to 2024.

BJP has nominated Archana Patil Chakurkar, daughter-in-law of former Union home minister Shivraj Patil, and Ramesh Kashiram Karad in Latur City and Latur Rural seats, respectively.

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