RPN Singh, a close aide of Rahul Gandhi and NDTV’s Sonia Singh’s husband to join the BJP

• Ratanjit Pratap Narain Singh, a senior leader of the Congress and former Union minister has left the party to join BJP.
• Jyotiraditya Scindia was the first to leave and then it was the turn of Sachin Pilot, (although he did not leave), in the next few months Jitin Prasada also left.
• Ratanjit Singh was MLA from Kushinagar constituency between 1997 to 2009 and MP from 2009 to 2014.
• RPN Singh was in charge of the party’s Jharkhand unit at the time of resigning from the primary membership of the party.

Ratanjit Pratap Narain Singh, a senior leader of the Congress and former Union minister has left the party to join BJP. Ratanjit Singh is latest among the list of scions of the families that had held the bastions of the Congress to leave the party. The father of Ratanjit, just like that of Jyotiraditya Scindia or Jitin Prasada, was a senior Congress leader as well as a Union minister.

So, very naturally, these leaders joined the Congress party and between 2004-2014, most of them enjoyed fruits of power. However, they see no future in the Congress which is losing one after another election to BJP as well as to regional parties. Most of these leaders waited for at least five years – the first term of the Modi government – but when the party lost in 2019 even more badly under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, they slowly decided to jump the sinking boat.

Jyotiraditya Scindia was the first to leave and then it was the turn of Sachin Pilot, (although he did not leave), in the next few months Jitin Prasada also left. The story is the same with Aditi Singh, whose father held the Raibareli Seat for decades for the Congress, but the daughter finally decided to join BJP after a brief stint with the Grand Old Party. So, the Congress party will probably lose even the Raebareli seat this time.

Ratanjit Singh, who was MLA from Kushinagar constituency between 1997 to 2009 and MP from 2009 to 2014 has also decided to leave the party. The party had rewarded Singh handsomely in 2009 and he was made Union Minister of State, Road, Transport and Highways (2009-11), Union Minister of State, Petroleum and Natural Gas and Corporate Affairs (2011-13), and Union Minister of State for Home Affairs (2013-14). But like any other leader with a stronghold over a constituency, he is also not loyal to any party and has decided to leave Congress because he sees no future for the grand-old-party.

BJP will be also happy to accommodate him as long as he wins the seat for the party and does not ask for big positions of power. Singh is a true Congressman in orientation and outlook. Married to Sonia Singh,  who serves as editorial director and president of the NDTV ethics committee. So, despite the family allegiances and history going back decades, Ratanjit Singh decided to leave the party and the story is the same with other leaders such as Jyotiraditya Scindia, Aditi Singh, Jitin Prasada, and so on.

Taking to Twitter, RPN Singh shared his resignation letter to Congress 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,” he said in a tweet.

A few hours later, he again tweeted that he has joined Bhartiya Janata Party. “This is a new beginning for me and I look forward to my contribution to nation-building under the visionary leadership & guidance of the Honourable Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi, BJP President Shri @JPNadda ji & Honourable Home Minister @AmitShah ji,” he announced.

This is a big loss to the Congress party. Not that RPN Singh was going to win a seat for Congress, but he is known to have organisational capacities and scripted a successful alliance with JMM in Jharkhand which emerged victoriously. He was in charge of the party’s Jharkhand unit at the time of resigning from the primary membership of the party. It seems the senior leaders have now become disenchanted with the leadership Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi and see no future of the party.