PATNA
Senior RJD leader and former union minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh resigned from the party on a bitter note on Thursday, more than two months after resigning from as the party’s national vice-president.
Singh made his announcement in a handwritten letter addressed to jailed RJD chief Lalu Prasad from AIIMS, Delhi, where the 74-year-old socialist veteran has been undergoing treatment for his recent ailments.
The letter was circulated in the media by his aides.
“Yes, Raghuvansh ji has resigned from the RJD. It is confirmed ,” said Ashok Singh, close aide of the former MP.
RJD’s state spokesperson Mritunjay Tiwary refused to comment.
In his letter, Singh expressed his pain at leaving the party and underlined his socialist background, loyalty and long association with the RJD chief. “I have stood solidly behind you for 32 years after the death of Jannayak Karpoori Thakur. But not anymore. I have received lots of affection from the party, supporters and people. Forgive me,” said Singh, who has been a five-time Lok Sabha member from Vaishali.
RJD had been trying hard to patch up with the Singh, a prominent Rajput face, after he opposed the induction of another former MP and strongman Rama Singh into the party. Rama Singh also is a known Rajput face in Vaishali who Singh sees as a rival.
The former union minister, who held the rural development portfolio in the UPA-1 government and steered the ambitious MGREGA programme for rural employment, was also said to be annoyed with RJD’s top leadership for the last few years for other reasons, including the denial of a Rajya Sabha berth by the party after he lost the 2014 and 2019 parliamentary polls. The appointment of another Rajput leader and former MP Jagdanand Singh as RJD’s state president last year had also not gone down well with Raghuvansh Sngh, sources said.
He was also reportedly unhappy with RJD’s decision to project leader of the opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav as the party’s chief ministerial face and had said that any decision on the CM face in the grand alliance should be taken after consulting all allies in the opposition coalition.
After Singh’s letter became public, speculation was rife in Patna that he may join the JD(U) and could be offered a Rajya Sabha berth or made an MLC from Governor’s quota in coming days. There was also speculation that he could be made chairman of Bihar Legislative Council. At present, Awadhesh Narain Singh is the acting chairman of the Council.
On its part, JD(U) welcomed the development. Party MP Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lallan Singh said, “RJD could not give respect to one of the prominent socialist leaders of Bihar though the party talks big about protecting dignity of masses. I salute Singh for leaving the RJD which is stuck in the quagmire of arrogance and corruption,” he said.
BJP’s state spokesperson Nikhil Anand said Singh was a very respectable leader of the state but he was insulted by the RJD. “Singh commands respect across all parties. But he was insulted by the RJD which used him for long and then dumped him,” he said.
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September 10, 2020 at 07:04PM
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Raghuvansh finally quits RJD, on a bitter note - Hindustan Times
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