Rashtriya Lok Samta Party  Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (abbreviated as RLSP; translation: "National People's Equity Party") is a political party in India led by Upendra Kushwaha. It was launched on 3 March 2013 and is based in the state of Bihar. The party was formed in opposition to Nitish Kumar and his Janata Dal (United). It has faced multiple rebellions and desertions since 2015. Upendra Kushwaha was dismissed from the Janata Dal (United) in 2007. Kushwaha founded the Rashtriya Samata Party in February 2009. The party was formed in the backdrop of alleged marginalisation of the Koeri caste and autocratic rule by the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar. The formation of the party was supported by Chhagan Bhujbal, the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra. In November 2009, the party was merged into the Janata Dal (United) with the mending of ties between Kushwaha and Kumar. On 4 January 2013, Upendra Kushwaha who at the time was a Rajya Sabha member resigned from the Janata Dal (United). He alleged that the Nitish model had failed and that the law and order situation was becoming as bad as it had been 7 years ago. He further alleged that the Nitish Kumar runs his government through autocratic means and that he had turned the Janata Dal (United) into his "pocket organisation". Kushwaha launched the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party in a rally in Gandhi Maidan, Patna on 3 March 2013. At the time of formation, Kushwaha had stated that the party will attempt to overthrow the National Democratic Alliance in the state of Bihar. However, following the departure of the Janata Dal (United) from the alliance, the party joined the National Democratic Alliance. In the subsequent 2014 Indian general election, it contested 3 parliamentary seats in Bihar (Sitamarhi, Karakat and Jahanabad) as part of the alliance and won all of them. Upendra Kushwaha was elected from the Karakat constituency and was appointed as the Minister of State of Human Resource Development. In the following 2015 Bihar Legislative Assembly election, the party contested 23 out of 243 seats as part of the alliance but was able to have its representative elected from only two seats. From late 2015 onward, the party was divided into two factions; one led by Upendra Kushwaha and the other led by Arun Kumar, the member of parliament from the Jahanabad constituency.