New Delhi: Ratanjit Pratap Narain (RPN) Singh, or Raja sahib as he is known in his constituency in eastern UP’s Padrauna, has joined the list of Congress leaders from Uttar Pradesh who have crossed over to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claiming the grand old party has “lost its way”.
Others who dumped Congress in the recent past include Jitin Prasada, who was inducted as an MLC and got a ministerial berth in the Yogi Adityanath government. Both RPN Singh, who belongs to the OBC category and Jitin Prasada were confidantes of Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Besides the two big leaders, MLAs Rakesh Singh and Aditi Singh who represent Harchandpur and Sadar constituencies in Rae Bareli, which was the bastion of Indira Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, and a former Congress MLC Dinesh Pratap Singh, who is the brother of Rakesh Singh, have followed suit.
The BJP also enticed Congress’ Behat MLA Naresh Saini into its fold and also its “ladki hoon” poster girl Dr Poornima Maurya who decided to leave the party over denial of ticket for the assembly poll. 'Ladki hoon, lad sakti hoon' (I am a girl, I can fight) was the slogan given by Priyanka for women’s empowerment. The exodus from Congress may continue as former UP Congress president Raj Babbar and a senior party leader and his MLA daughter are also said to be heading towards the exit door.
With OBCs veering towards the SP, the induction of RPN Singh was aimed at bolstering BJP’s support to backward classes especially after Swami Prasad Maurya who is also an OBC leader from eastern UP, recently resigned from Yogi Adityanath’s cabinet and joined hands with Akhilesh Yadav. The move may be mutually beneficial for both RPN Singh and the BJP. It is unclear if RPN will contest the Assembly election or bide his time until the Lok Sabha polls in 2024.
Read: UP Polls 2022: RPN Singh says will work as 'karyakarta' to fulfill PM Modi's dreams
RPN Singh’s recent poll record is not much to talk about as he lost in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections. In 2019, RPN Singh even lost his security deposit. This is in sharp contrast with another Congress leader Pramod Tiwari who has not lost any state election since the 1980s from Pratapgarh’s Rampur Khas constituency. Tiwari was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2018 and his constituency is now represented by his daughter Aradhana Misra.
Surely, so many leaders leaving the party must come as a setback to Priyanka Gandhi. For the first time, she is leading her party into the electoral battle for UP and carries a basket full of expectations on her shoulders. As the general-secretary and in-charge of UP, Priyanka Gandhi will be accountable for the party’s performance.
With some party veterans doubting their political acumen, the results will also determine if the brother-sister duo is capable of running Congress. On the face of it, she is unruffled by the exodus of unhappy leaders just before the elections. Taking a jibe at RPN Singh after he joined the BJP, a Congress spokesperson said that Priyanka Gandhi was leading a “strong pitched battle for ideology and truth” and that “cowards” can’t fight this battle.
In a caste and religion-driven political landscape, Priyanka’s new template of 40 percent reservation for women is a big gamble on which rests her and her party’s future. Congress has been out of power in UP for over 30 years. Its numbers declined sharply from 28 seats in 2012 to seven in 2017. The party is now struggling to save its seven seats in the coming elections amidst the prevailing hostility towards it. The interesting part of so many Congress leaders joining the saffron fold is that the fight for UP is now between the SP and Congress-yukt BJP.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of ETV Bharat.
