Senior leader RPN Singh quits Congress, joins BJP ahead of UP polls

Senior leader and former union Minister RPN Singh resigned from the Congress on Tuesday dealing a blow to the party ahead of the Uttar Pradesh polls, and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party,

Singh joined the BJP at the party headquarters in Delhi in the presence of UP deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya, and union ministers Anurag Thakur, Dharmendra Pradhan, and Jyotiraditya Scindia.

"Today, at a time we are celebrating the formation of our great Republic, I begin a new chapter in my political journey," said his resignation letter sent to Congress president Sonia Gandhi.



Singh was a union minister in the UPA government. He was the party in-charge of Jharkhand. The exit will be a setback for the party as it tries to unite under the leadership of Priyanka Gandhi for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.

Last year, the Congress lost another party heavyweight to BJP in the form of Jitin Prasada who later joined the BJP and is a minister in the Yogi Adityanath government.

Uttar Pradesh will go to polls from February 10 till March 7 and the results will be out on March 10.

Sources said he was upset with the party leadership over his close associates being denied party tickets in Uttar Pradesh.

Singh is a former MP from Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh and has served as Union Minister of State for Home Affairs.

He hails from Padrauna and is a scion of the royal family.

(With inputs from PTI)