Pic courtesy: @SinghRPN  |  Photo Credit: Twitter
Key Highlights
- RPN Singh is believed to close to the Gandhi family
- His name was included in the list of Congress’ star campaigners for the UP elections
- RPN Singh served as an MLA from Padrauna from 1996 to 2009
New Delhi: Former Union minister RPN Singh on Tuesday resigned from the Congress, dealing a major blow to the party ahead of crucial Assembly Elections in Uttar Pradesh. According to reports, the veteran politician will join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
RPN Singh, 57, was the Congress’ Jharkhand in-charge. Reports suggest that he might be fielded against senior backward caste leader Swami Prasad Maurya from the Padrauna seat in Kushinagar.
Former Cabinet minister of Yogi Adityanath’s BJP government in UP, Maurya recently joined the Samajwadi Party.
On Twitter, RPN Singh removed Congress from his bio and changed it to: “My motto India,First, Always”.
A short while later, he announced his resignation from the Congress on the micro–blogging website.
“Today, at a time, we are celebrating the formation of our great Republic, I begin a new chapter in my political journey. Jai Hind,” posted Singh.
Singh, who lost the last assembly elections in 2017 from Padrauna, is understood to be close to the Gandhi family. On January 24, his name was included in the list of Congress’ star campaigners for the UP elections.
According to reports, he felt sidelined within the Congress party lately. Three days ago, he met the top leadership of the BJP, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, Singh had denied any talk with the BJP last week.
Between 1997 and 1999, he was president of the UP Youth Congress and between 2003 and 2006, he served as secretary of the All India Congress Committee (AICC).
Like his father CPN Singh, Singh served as an MLA from Padrauna from 1996 to 2009. In 2009, he represented Padrauna in the Lok Sabha, but lost to BJP’s Rajesh Pandey in 2014.
As a member of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, Singh served as Union minister of state for road, transport, and highways (2009-2011), as minister of state for petroleum and natural gas (2011-2013), and as minister of state for home affairs (2013-2014).
The switch by Singh to the BJP ahead of crucial assembly polls in UP is yet another setback for the Congress party in the state. Jitin Prasada, a former Congress heavyweight from the state, had also joined the BJP recently.
Elections in UP will be held in seven phases beginning on February 10.