A new beginning for me, RPN Singh joins BJP ahead of UP polls

Senior Congress leader and former union minister RPN Singh on Monday resigned from the party and joined the BJP  in the presence of Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, former party colleague Jyotiraditya Scindia and other BJP leaders in Delhi. Singh previously served as the Union minister of state from 2012 to 2014. RPN Singh, who is from eastern UP's Kushinagar, was among the Congress' biggest leaders in India's most politically vital state and was on the list of the party's star campaigners. Soon after putting out his resignation letter to Sonia Gandhi on Twitter,

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

RPN Singh tweeted on a "new beginning" under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president JP Nadda and Home Minister Amit Shah. He is likely to contest the UP polls from his stronghold Padrauna, from where he has been elected MLA thrice.

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.

— RPN Singh (@SinghRPN) January 25, 2022

For 32 years, I stayed in a party [Congress] and worked diligently. Now it’s not the same party. Even the thinking isn’t the same." he said. "If the country is to be taken forward, I would do whatever is needed as a party worker.""For many years, people asked me to join BJP Today I’ll say better late than never. Singh said.

Congress National spokesperson Supriya Shrinate on Tuesday said that only "cowards jump to parties with completely opposite ideology", an apparent dig at the party's star campaigner in Uttar Pradesh RPN Singh, who resigned earlier in the day. She called the fight between BJP and Congress a "war of ideology". "To win this fight you have to be brave. Only a coward can jump to a party with a completely opposite ideology," she said. 

Jharkhand Congress MLA Amba Prasad said the former had colluded with the saffron camp “for more than a year” to “overthrow” the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-Congress government in the state. Jharkhand Congress chief Rajesh Thakur earlier said Singh's decision to resign from the Congress party was “wrong”.