NEW DELHI: All India Congress Committee (AICC) leader in-charge of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, Kunwar Ratanjit Pratap Narain Singh, popularly known as RPN, quit the party, dealing a personal blow to Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. He joined the BJP shortly after he tendered his resignation to Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi.
Union education minister and BJP in-charge of Uttar Pradesh (UP) assembly election Dharmendra Pradhan, civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and both deputy chief ministers of UP Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma among others welcomed RPN Singh in the party headquarters at Delhi.
Soon after sending his resignation letter to Sonia Gandhi and shortly before joining the BJP, RPN Singh in a tweet said: "This is a new beginning for me and I look forward to my contribution to nation-building under the visionary leadership and guidance of the honourable Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi, BJP president Shri @JPNadda ji & honourable Home Minister @AmitShah ji."
Till March 2020, Jyotiraditya Scindia and RPN Singh were colleagues in the Congress. In a post in Hindi on Koo, Scindia said: "A heartfelt welcome in the BJP family to Uttar Pradesh's senior leader RPN Singh. My wish is that you continue to work in the service of the nation by joining the world's largest political party dedicated to the service of the nation under the leadership of the successful Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I am sure that your excellent experience in public service will give more strength and energy to the resolve for the development of the party."
Once upon a time, along with Jyotiraditya Scindia, Jitin Prasada, Sachin Pilot, Milind Deora, Gaurav Gogoi and Deepender S Hooda, RPN Singh was one of the eight Young Turks of the Congress considered to part of Team Rahul.
However, the relations between RPN, the ‘Raja Saheb of Padrauna’ in Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh, and the Nehru-Gandhi siblings started souring after the Narendra Modi government nullified in August 2019 Article 370 related to the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. While the Congress opposed the Centre’s move, RPN Singh - along with Scindia, Hooda and Prasada - had struck a discordant note telling the party leadership to gauge the public mood.
Then again later in November-December the same year, RPN Singh, as Congress in-charge of Jharkhand, had asked the party leadership to refrain from launching a personal attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the state assembly election.
Rahul Gandhi, who has been at the forefront in hitting out at Modi, is said to have felt “isolated” over RPN Singh’s stance. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is reported to have supported her brother.
Though Congress won the Jharkhand assembly election, the relations between RPN Singh and the Nehru-Gandhi siblings nose-dived.
The former Union minister’s resignation is sure to cast a question mark on the leadership capabilities of Priyanka Vadra, who is the Congress general secretary in-charge of UP. RPN is one of the senior leaders of the party in the state and his resignation comes barely a fortnight ahead of the seven-phase state assembly election commencing on February 10.
Priyanka has been tasked with reviving the party’s fortunes not just for the ensuing UP assembly election but also in the 2024 Lok Sabha election as the state returns the maximum 80 out of 543 seats in the Lower House.
RPN Singh's resignation comes on the heels of another party leader from UP itself Jitin Prasada, who quit in June 2021, may raise a question mark over Priyanka for failing to keep the flock together.
RPN was elected to the Lok Sabha from Kushinagar in 2009. He had contested the Lok Sabha election also in 1996, 2014 and 2019 but lost all these. He was an MLA from Padrauna constituency for three terms in 1996, 2002 and 2007.
The BJP may likely field him against former state minister Swami Prasad Maurya, who quit the BJP and Yogi Adityanath government earlier this month to join Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party (SP).
Like all other seven Young Turks, RPN Singh is also the son of former Congress leader CPN Singh. His father was also an MP from Kushinagar (then Hata) and a minister of state for defence in the Indira Gandhi government in 1980.
Jyotiraditya Scindia and Jitin Prasada
Before him, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Jitin Prasada, who quit the party to join the BJP, are also sons of former Congress leaders.
The resignation of Scindia and Prasada was also a personal blow to the Nehru-Gandhi siblings, particularly Priyanka Vadra. When he quit in March 2020, Scindia was the Congress general secretary in-charge of western UP. His resignation led to the downfall of the Kamal Nath government of the Congress in Madhya Pradesh as 18 party MLAs owing allegiance to him jumped ship.
Subsequently, Shivraj Singh Chouhan returned as MP CM with the BJP coming back to power. Scindia, who had lost the 2019 Lok Sabha election, was sent to the Rajya Sabha and made the civil aviation minister in the Modi government last year.
Jitin Prasada, a prominent Brahmin face of UP, is the son of former Congress leader Jitendra Prasada. He had contested and won the 2004 Lok Sabha election from Shahjahanpur in the state. He won the 2009 parliamentary election from Dhaurahra. However, he lost the two subsequent Lok Sabha elections in 2014 and 2019 from the seat and also the 2017 UP assembly polls.
He switched over to the BJP last year and became a minister in the Yogi government. His resignation was also seen as a personal jolt to Priyanka Vadra.
