Ex-JD(U) MP NK Singh, author MJ Akbar join BJP

NEW DELHI: N K Singh, former JD(U) MP and M J Akbar, author and senior journalist, on Saturday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP).


73-year-old Singh, a former bureaucrat whose term in the Rajya Sabha is coming to an end shortly, had joined the JD(U) and was elected on the party ticket to the house of elders.

Akbar, who was a Congress MP from Kishanganj in Bihar between 1989 and 1991, switched over to the BJP bandwagon ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. He was Congress party spokesperson in 1989 ahead of Lok Sabha polls.

Singh had yesterday written a letter to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar conveying his decision to quit and the reasons for it but refused to disclose them.

Singh expressed disappointment over the current situation in Bihar, saying ever since JD(U) broke ties with BJP last year the issue of development has taken a back seat.

He said he had told the Chief Minister that his government was now more focussed on political survival rather than development of the state.

Singh said he had joined the JD(U) at a time when the government was involved in spectacular work on the matrix of development in Bihar.

Akbar said that he has come back in politics for its policies and work to bring the nation back into a "recovery mission".

"I have come back to politics because of policy (main rajniti me niti ke liye wapas aya hu). The crisis in front of the country is known to all. This is an opportunity to do whatever little we can do for our country," he said after joining the party.

"It is our duty to join hands with the voice of the nation and bring the country back to a recovery mission. I look forward to working in BJP," he told reporters.

Akbar, who was close to then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, acknowledged that the latter was a friend and 20 years have passed since that.

Backing Modi, Akbar said that no other leader has gone through so much scrutiny as has Modi.

He also hoped that Muslims will join hands with BJP as they are equal citizens of the nation and will come out of the "politics of fear".