Former Union minister R.P.N. Singh joined the BJP on Tuesday, hours after resigning from the Congress.
R.P.N. Singh joined the BJP at the party's headquarters in Delhi in the presence of Union ministers Anurag Thakur, Dharmendra Pradhan and Jyotiraditya Scindia and other BJP leaders.
Singh was quoted by ANI as saying, “I spent 32 years in one political party (Congress). But that party has not remained the same as it was before. I will work as a 'Karyakarta' towards fulfilling PM [Narendra] Modi's dreams for India.”
Shortly after resigning from the Congress, R.P.N. Singh had indicated he was headed to the BJP. He tweeted he looked forward to working under the “visionary leadership & guidance” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP chief J.P. Nadda.
The departure of R.P.N. Singh has brought defiant reactions from the Congress. Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate appeared to question R.P.N. Singh's commitment. She was quoted by ANI as saying, "The battle which Congress party is fighting can be fought only with bravery... It requires courage, strength and Priyanka Gandhi Ji has said that coward people can't fight it.”
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More seriously, a Congress MLA in Jharkhand accused R.P.N. Singh of attempting to destabilise the coalition government in Jharkhand. Singh was the Congress in-charge for Jharkhand.
Amba Prasad, the MLA for Barkagaon in Hazaribagh district, tweeted “true” Congress members in Jharkhand were happy with his departure. She tweeted, “For more than a year, RPN Singh ji was trying to overthrow the Congress-JMM government of Jharkhand by colluding with the BJP. The party leadership was also constantly warned about this. Every true Congressman of Jharkhand is happy with his going to BJP.”
Mayur Shekhar Jha, an activist with the Congress in Jharkhand, made the same accusation about R.P.N. Singh. He tweeted “You [Singh] tried to divide the workers, failed, You tried to mislead the MLAs and failed. You tried to bring instability in the government, failed. A real 'image of failure' is being installed at the BJP headquarters today. Every Congress worker in Jharkhand will celebrate today.”