RPN Singh who was Congress Working Committee (CWC) member and AICC in-charge of Jharkhand has quit congress party and joined the BJP. Singh yesterday took to twitter and posted his resignation letter addressed to Sonia Gandhi. Singh then officially was inducted in the BJP after a short press conference conducted in the BJP headquarters, Delhi. Singh tweeted, “This is a new beginning for me and I look forward to my contribution to nation-building under the visionary leadership and guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP President JP Nadda and Home Minister Amit Shah.”
It becomes imperative to mention here that Singh was an important and one of the few leaders who was close to Rahul Gandhi, his association with the congress party is close to 40 years old as his father Kunwar Chandra Pratap Singh was an MLA and a two term MP and shared the cabinet in the Indira Gandhi Government in 1980. RPN Singh himself is a 3 term MLA from his home constituency, Padrauna which falls in Kushinagar Loksabha Constituency. His entry in national politics took place in the year 2009 when he was elected as MP from this seat, He has also held important portfolios in the UPA-II government including Minister of State (MoS) Home. However, Singh lost the two successive general elections in, 2014 & 2019.
The Impact of Singh’s Exit on UP Polls
The impact of Singh’s exit may prove to be an important factor in the politics of Eastern Uttar Pradesh. RPN Singh comes from OBC Kurmi Caste which is a dominating demographic factor in Padrauna constituency, there is a conjecture around the fact that BJP may field Singh from his home constituency Padrauna against sitting MLA, Swami Prasad Maurya from Padrauna seat, who had quit BJP in early January and joined Samajwadi Party (SP). It is also worth mentioning here that Singh has defeated Maurya in 2009 general elections in the Kushinagar seat. Singh’s exit is also a big setback for the Congress party as he was at the forefront in the line of next gen leadership in the congress party, he was also promoted to be the AICC in-charge of Jharkhand based on his portfolio and contribution in the party. Singh was among the very few known faces from Uttar Pradesh in congress, after his exit, Raj Babbar and Salman Khurshid are the only two prominent leaders in congress from UP.
