Former JDU President And Nitish Kumar Confidante RCP Singh Joins BJP

Former Janata Dal (United) president Ram Chandra Pratap Singh joined the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) today (May 11).

Singh had quit the JD(U) in August, around the time when the JD(U) exited the NDA and went back to the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan in Bihar.

Singh had to give up his ministerial berth at the Centre after he was denied another Rajya Sabha term by the JD(U).

Later, the bureaucrat-turned-politician was served a notice by the JD(U) seeking an explanation from him over alleged corruption charges, following which he quit the party.

Speculations of Singh switching over to the BJP were being made since then. Singh attacked Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar repeatedly over frequent changes in alliances and his desire to remain the CM.

“How many times will he switch sides? He has already done that four times in 1994, 2013, 2017, and 2022,” Singh was quoted as saying by the ANI in August 2022.

Reports say that Kumar was unhappy with Singh over his alleged closeness with the BJP.

Singh was considered to be the second in command in the JD(U) after Kumar. He comes from the Kurmi community, the same as Kumar, and was believed to have considerable sway within the party, next only to the party chief.

The move follows the exit of another Kurmi leader, Upendra Kushwaha, from the JD(U) in February. BJP is hoping the twin exits would make a significant dent in the Koeri-Kurmi voter base of Kumar.

Singh’s exit also comes at a time when Kumar and RJD’s Tejaswi Yadav are trying to cobble together an opposition front against the BJP with support from Congress and other regional parties like Trinamool Congress and Bharat Rashtra Samithi.

Singh had earlier said that Kumar will not become the prime minister even in seven lives. “These are not times of political instability when Chandrashekhar, Deve Gowda, I K Gujral, etc, could enjoy brief stints as PM,” he was quoted by PTI.