As per various media reports, Ramchandra Prasad Singh, the current President of the JD(U) can be forced to relinquish the post because Nitish Kumar wants no challenger in the party. 63 years old RCP Singh was made Union minister from JD(U)’s quota by the Union government, and he is said to enjoy a very good rapport with the saffron party.
Nitish Kumar fears that RCP Singh may stage a coup against him with the help of the BJP. RCP Singh, who is now Union Minister of Steel, is a former bureaucrat and confidante of Nitish Kumar, but given changing political dynamics and a weakening JD(U), he may jump the ship or propose to merge the party with BJP.
Before RCP Singh does anything that would harm the political career of 70-year-old Nitish Kumar, the CM of Bihar wants to sideline him just like Sharad Yadav. However, RCP Singh would not be pushed away easily given the kind of clout he enjoys within JD(U) and his close links with BJP.
A few months ago, Nitish Kumar inducted Upendra Kumar Kushwaha into the party and according to some leaders who are part of JD(U)’s National Executive Committee, he is the frontrunner for the post. JD(U)’s leader in the Lok Sabha and Munger MP Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh is the other major contender.
The JD(U) leaders are building pressure on RCP Singh to quit the President post since he took oath as Union minister and the final decision can be taken on this in the upcoming JD(U) National Executive Body meeting at the party office in Delhi.
In the last few months, many JD(U) legislators have taken a different stance than Nitish Kumar over issues like the population control bill, and Kumar is sensing a rebellion in the party and a plan to throw him out.
Previously RJD spokesperson Shakti Singh Yadav has insinuated that newly crowned Cabinet Minister RCP Singh could soon oust Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and his key aides from the party.
Stating the incident where JDU leader Pramod Chandravansi was ejected rather unceremoniously, Shakti Yadav stated, “Pramod Chandravansi incident will soon be replicated with Nitish Kumar and his trusted leaders of JD-U.”
It is pertinent to note that Pramod Chandravansi, the JD(U) leader who is associated with Nitish Kumar since the foundation of the Samata Party, alleged that RCP Singh had misbehaved with him recently, “I was associated with Nitish Kumar for 27 years and R.C.P. Singh was the personal secretary of Nitish Kumar at that time. When he became Union Minister, I personally came here to congratulate him. However, he thought otherwise and threw out me from the lift of his official residence,”
RCP Singh has had different views on matters of national importance. Unlike JDU and its other leaders, RCP Singh openly batted for the introduction of CAA and NRC across the country. As reported by TFI, RCP Singh stoutly defended CAA in Parliament, which was vehemently opposed by the then JD(U) national vice president Prashant Kishor who was ultimately expelled from the party.
Thus, his elevation to the cabinet as the Steel Minister is being seen as a move by BJP to cut Nitish to size. Since the announcement of the cabinet last Wednesday, Nitish Kumar has not congratulated RCP Singh publicly on social media or any other platform, suggesting that all is not well within the JD(U) camp.
RCP Singh is a very smart politician, and he may be able to defeat the person who managed to keep the CM chair with him for the last one and a half-decade despite his unpopularity. The 70-year-old Bihar CM wants to sideline RCP just like Sharad Yadav, but this time he is set to lose the battle and seek a permanent exit from politics.