His name was on the list of star campaigners in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls released by Congress on Monday. Former Union Minister Ranjit Pratap Narayan (RPN) Singh announced his departure from Sonia Gandhi’s party on Tuesday afternoon. Within hours, he joined the BJP.
RPN, once close to the Gandhi family, wrote on Twitter, “This is my new beginning. I would like to contribute to the nation-building work under the visionary leadership and direction of Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP President JP Nadda, and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. ”
RPN, a son of the royal family of Kushinagar, has won the Congress ticket from the Padruana assembly constituency in three consecutive terms since 1996. After winning the 2009 Lok Sabha elections from the Kushinagar constituency, he became the Minister of State for Roads, Petroleum, and Corporate Affairs in the second UPA government led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. RPN’s father CPN Singh was also a Congress MP.
In the last one year, many well-known leaders like Jitin Prasad, Imran Masood, and Aditi Singh have left the Congress in Uttar Pradesh. This time RPN came on that list. According to BJP sources, he may be contesting from Kushinagar’s Padruana assembly constituency.
