Ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election, former Union minister Ratanjit Pratap Narain Singh on Tuesday resigned from Congress. He is likely to join the BJP at 3 pm today as per reports.
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.
Today, at a time, we are celebrating the formation of our great Republic, I begin a new chapter in my political journey. Jai Hind pic.twitter.com/O4jWyL0YDC
— RPN Singh (@SinghRPN) January 25, 2022
Singh, who had lost the last Assembly elections from Padrauna in 2017, is considered close to Gandhis. His name was included in the list of Congress' star campaigners for UP elections released on 24 January.
A descendant of the royal family of Sainthwar of Kushinagar, 57-year-old Singh is popularly known as Raja Saheb of Padrauna. He had been president of UP Youth Congress between 1997 and 1999 and secretary of All India Congress Committee (AICC) between 2003 and 2006.
He is likely to be fielded against Swami Prasad Maurya on a BJP ticket from Padrauna seat in Kushinagar. Maurya, former Cabinet minister in the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government in UP, recently switched to the Samajwadi Party (SP).
Reports said he was lately feeling sidelined in the Congress party. He had met top BJP leadership, including prime minister Narendra Modi in Delhi, three days ago.
Singh had last week denied any talks with the BJP, however.
UP polls
Uttar Pradesh, what is considered to be the country's politically vital state, votes from 10 February in seven rounds in an election widely, which is being considered as a precursor to the national elections of 2024. The results will be declared on 10 March.
In the 2017 Assembly elections, the BJP scored a comprehensive victory in Uttar Pradesh. Winning 312 of 403 seats, the saffron party left its competitors far behind to score its biggest victory in this crucial state of the Hindi belt.
In terms of the vote share data, the BJP polled at 39.7 percent, followed by the BSP with 22.2 percent and SP 21.8 percent. Congress could get only 6.3 percent (over 54 lakh votes).
With inputs from PTI
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January 25, 2022 at 01:06PM
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