The induction of former Congress Union Minister in the Manmohan Singh government, Ratanjit Pratap Narain Singh into the BJP on Tuesday is likely to cause a political turmoil in Jharkhand, of which Singh was Congress in-charge since July 2017.
Sources in Ranchi Congress told The Daily Guardian that the Hemant Soren-led alliance government of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has come under significant “stress” with at least 6-9 of the total 18 Congress MLAs in the state ready to join the BJP under the guidance of R.P.N. Singh.
The Congress MLAs who are open to switching sides constitute the group that is upset over not being given any ministry or similar position in the state.
“There is talk of some MLAs ready to defect as they have not been accommodated in any position by the Soren government. Hence, if they receive a good offer from the BJP, they won’t think twice. Interestingly, it was RPN who decided which MLA would become minister in Jharkhand,” a party MLA told The Daily Guardian. The Congress has four ministers in the state, with six from JMM and RJD having one minister.
In the Jharkhand Assembly of 81 MLAs, the JMM has 30 MLAs, while the BJP
has 26. The BJP hence needs the signature of 15 additional MLAs to bring down the Soren government. At present, there are two Independent MLAs, two from All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) and one each from Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), CPI(ML) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). This small bloc, which in total constitutes 7 MLAs, is being eyed by the BJP to reach the magic number of 41. However, the lone CPI(ML) MLA, Vinod Singh, who represents Bagodar, is unlikely to switch to the BJP, political observers, who have known him, said.
The Uttar Pradesh-based R.P.N. Singh, who resigned from the Congress, just hours after being named as a star campaigner for the Uttar Pradesh elections, is, as per speculation in the political corridors in Ranchi, also in touch with a “few” JMM MLAs.
In July last year, three persons, Abhishek Dubey, Amit Singh and Niwaran Prasad Mahato were arrested by Jharkhand police for trying to topple the Soren government. Ever since coming into existence in November 2000, Jharkhand has seen five Assembly elections but witnessed 11 CMs taking oath and the President’s Rule being imposed three times in the short history of the state.
Dilip Saikia, BJP MP from Mangaldoi (Assam) and co-incharge of Jharkhand, while responding to this newspaper’s query regarding whether the induction of Singh into the BJP would lead to political changes in Jharkhand, said that “there would be some positive (news) for the party (from Jharkhand) in the coming days” while stating that he would not be able to comment on a hypothetical situation of Congress MLAs in Jharkhand moving to the BJP. SMS sent to R.P.N. Singh did not generate a response.
According to those who have known Singh for years said that his exit was not going to dent the Congress as he had no community support.
“He barely won the 2009 Lok Sabha polls and then went on to lose the 2014 and the 2019 polls. He is known more for his networking among those who matter,” a senior Jharkhand Congress functionary told The Daily Guardian.
Singh, apart from being an MP from Kushinagar once, represented Padrauna Assembly by winning from there in 1996, and from 2002 to 2007. He lost from the seat when he contested the 2017 elections to Swami Prasad Maurya, who had at the time contested on a BJP ticket.
As per speculation in BJP circles, Singh is likely to contest from Padrauna seat on a BJP ticket against his old political foe, Maurya, who is now going to contest from the same seat on a Samajwadi Party ticket.
Singh had reportedly got the green signal from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to join the BJP earlier last week.
Due to his loyalty to the Gandhi family, Singh was always hand held by the Congress party. It was due to his proximity to Rahul Gandhi, that Singh was appointed as the in-charge of a “resource” rich state like Jharkhand, a posting which as per Ranchi based Congress leaders, served him well.
From 1997 and 1999, Singh was president of the UP Youth Congress. Later, from 2003 to 2006, he was appointed as Secretary of the All India Congress Committee (AICC).
As a minister in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, Singh served as Union Minister of State for Road, Transport, and Highways (2009-2011), as Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas (2011-2013) and as Minister of State for Home Affairs (2013-2014).
He is a part of the elite “Doon club” and was the president of Doon’s alumni body, the Doon School Old Boys’ Society. BJP supporters believe that due to his association with a prominent news channel, the BJP’s media reach will be strengthened further.
However, it remains to be seen how he will fit in the BJP’s scheme of things, where apart from multiple leaders who are popular on the ground, there are several others like Singh whose expertise is in networking and behind the curtains negotiations, a trait which is not too popular with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath.
Meanwhile, Congress president Sonia Gandhi appointed Avinash Pandey as general secretary in-charge of Jharkhand on Tuesday.
Pandey is a senior Congress leader and party’s screening committee chief for Uttarkhand Assembly polls.