RPN Singh, one of the Congress’s most prominent leaders in Uttar Pradesh, quit the party today and crossed over to the BJP ahead of next month’s election in the state. He is likely to contest the UP polls from his stronghold Padrauna, from where he has been elected MLA thrice.
“I have been in one party for the last 32 years, but today I must say that party is no longer what it used to be. Today, everyone knows that if there is one party that is working for the benefit of the people and is working on building the nation, it is the BJP,” RPN Singh told reporters this afternoon. On stage with him was Jyotiraditya Scindia, who took the Congress-to-BJP route in 2020.
“The party is not like the time I joined, the thinking is not the same,” RPN Singh said, giving reasons for leaving Congress for BJP. Singh outlined that with joining BJP, he has tread on a ‘new journey’ on Republic Day, leaving behind Congress.
Electorally, his exit from the grand old party will have limited impact given that he is not a pan-Uttar Pradesh leader and his sphere of influence is confined to the Kushi Nagar Lok Sabha constituency, adjoining Gorakhpur, which he represented in 2009. His old Assembly seat of Padrauna, which he represented thrice from 1996 to 2009, falls in the Kushi Nagar constituency.
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But Singh’s exit is politically damaging to the Congress as he is considered to be one of the Generation Next leaders of the party. Though he is 57 years old, he was seen as among the leaders who would be part of Rahul Gandhi’s future Congress.
(With inputs from agencies)
