Patna, Apr 28 (PTI) Former Union minister Upendra Kushwaha on Monday blamed BJP leaders in Bihar, "who defy even Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah" for the below-par performance of the NDA in the Lok Sabha polls.

Kushwaha, who heads the Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM), was addressing a programme of his party at Bagaha in West Champaran district of Bihar.

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"There are many leaders who defied Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president Jagat Prakash Nadda during the Lok Sabha polls, and let the opposition gain some advantage in five to six seats," the Rajya Sabha MP claimed.

Kushwaha himself contested the Karakat seat, which he had won in 2014, as the NDA candidate, but finished third, behind the CPI(ML) winner Raja Ram Singh and BJP rebel Pawan Singh, who turned down a party ticket in West Bengal and fought the Bihar seat as an Independent.

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Pawan Singh, who cut into BJP votes in a big way, was understood to have been propped up by some leaders within the party who wanted to queer the pitch for Kushwaha.

The RLM chief claimed "such defiant leaders, who consider Modi, Shah and Nadda their leaders but do not follow their advice, may have cost the NDA five to six seats. It is essential that they are reined in if the NDA wants to ensure victory in the upcoming assembly polls".

The NDA in Bihar comprises five parties – Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U), Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) and Hindustani Awam Morcha headed by Union ministers Chirag Paswan and Jitan Ram Manjhi, respectively – besides the BJP and RLM.

In the 2024 general elections, the coalition bagged 30 seats, nine less than its tally of five years earlier, when it had won all but one of the 40 seats in Bihar.

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