RPN Singh joins BJP shortly after quitting Congress, says `this is the new beginning`

RPN Singh had earlier this morning resigned from Congress - his party for several years - and tendered his resignation letter to interim party president Sonia Gandhi.

NEW DELHI: RPN Singh, the former Union Minister and a Congress heavyweight from the poll-bound state of Uttar Pradesh, on Tuesday announced that he has joined the BJP and vowed to work under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP chief J P Nadda.

He is set to formally join the saffron party in the presence of top BJP leaders anytime soon.  

RPN Singh is also likely to be fielded from his home turf - Padrauna - the same seat against Samajwadi Party's Swami Prasad Maurya, who recently jumped ship from the BJP. Singh had earlier this morning resigned from Congress - his party for several years and tendered his resignation letter to interim party president Sonia Gandhi.

"Today, at a time, we are celebrating the formation of our great Republic, I begin a new chapter in my political journey. Jai Hind,'' Singh wrote in his resignation letter sent to Sonia Gandhi. 

He also changed his Twitter bio to “My Motto India, First, Always", dropping his Congress credentials. Later, he shared that he had joined the saffron camp.

His resignation came a day after he was named as one of the party’s star campaigners for UP polls. The resignation of RPN Singh, a Congress veteran from the poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, triggered intense speculations about his switching over to the BJP soon.

Singh has been the Congress party’s Jharkhand in-charge till now. He was apparently sidelined in the Congress and had reportedly lost touch with the powerful Gandhi family, which is at the centre of Congress politics for many decades. Sources said that he was miffed over the party affairs in his home district of Padrauna as he was not taken into confidence on many issues related to the party functioning in his turf.

A descendent of the royal family of Sainthwar of Kushinagar, RPN Singh had lost the last election from UP’s Padrauna seat. He is likely to be fielded from the same seat against SP’s Swami Prasad Maurya, who recently jumped ship from the BJP.

Son of late Congress veteran CPN Singh, he has been a staunch loyalist of the Congress party and an MLA from the Padrauna assembly constituency of Uttar Pradesh.

RPN Singh was also elected as the MP from the constituency in the 15th Lok Sabha election. In the 16th Lok Sabha election, he lost to BJP’s Rajesh Pandey. He has also served as the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs during the past Congress government at the Centre.

RPN Singh's exit is a big setback to Congress' UP in-charge Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's efforts to keep the party united ahead of the crucial assembly elections in UP. 

Singh is the third top rung Congress leader to have quit the party after Jitin Prasada and Jyotiraditya Scindia - both of them joined the BJP and were later sworn in as ministers in the Yogi Adityanath-led cabinet and Narendra Modi government at the Centre respectively.