Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s non-committal stance on the renomination of Union minister R.C.P. Singh to the Rajya Sabha has created a buzz in the state’s political circles as it comes amid strains in the ties between coalition partners JD(U) and BJP.
Singh is seen as Nitish’s right-hand man in the Janata Dal (United) and as someone who wielded such influence over the CM that the latter chose him over poll strategist and former party vice-president Prashant Kishor in their tussle for supremacy within the party.
But lately, the relationship the two enjoyed seems to be souring, with Singh said to be developing close ties with the BJP, according to sources in the JD(U).
Singh’s term in the Rajya Sabha expires on 7 July and he has to be renominated to the Upper House of Parliament in order to continue as a minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.
On 22 May, while speaking to journalists, Nitish Kumar stayed mum over the issue of Singh’s renomination .
“Do not worry about these things. The announcement will be made in due time”, he said. The Union minister has been in Patna for a week and his interaction with Nitish has been limited to meeting him at a social function.
Asked about the matter, BJP spokesperson Prem Ranjan Patel said: “What the JD(U) intends to do with Singh is a matter for the JD(U) to decide. It does not relate to the alliance between BJP and JD(U).”
ThePrint reached three JD(U) spokespersons for comment by phone calls, but all of them declined to comment, hinting at a gag order from the top leadership. “Stithi vikat hai (the situation is a difficult ones),” said one spokesperson.
However, JD(U) MLA and deputy speaker Maheshwar Hazari said party legislators had authorised Nitish Kumar to nominate the Rajya Sabha candidate.
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Friend turned foe?
The Bihar CM’s silence in the matter is being seen by political watchers within the context of the JD(U)’s weakening ties with the BJP.
While the two parties contested the last assembly election as allies and formed a coalition government, their equation has been an uneasy one, with many BJP leaders frequently attacking the Kumar-led government, and the CM seen to be warming up to Tejashwi Yadav of the RJD, his former deputy, of late.
Singh’s familiarity with senior BJP leaders, including Home Minister Amit Shah, was first interpreted as him working as a bridge between Nitish and central BJP leaders. However, his increasing closeness to the ruling party has become a concern, two JD(U) leaders told ThePrint on condition of anonymity.
Singh was the first Union minister to make a donation towards the the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, the BJP’s pet project — a move that might not have gone down well with the Bihar CM who puts a premium on his secular image and proactively woos the Muslim votebank.
In the UP polls, where the JD(U) contested about 50 seats, Singh ignored his own party’s call to campaign for their candidates, say party functionaries. Last week, he criticised former PM Jawaharlal Nehru, surprising JD(U) leaders since Nitish Kumar has never been known as a Nehru critic.
Singh had spearheaded the party’s seat-sharing negotiation with the BJP and played a key role in ticket distribution. While Nitish is pushing for a caste census, Singh has taken a different line. In August last year, he said that a caste census was not needed as caste was no longer a big issue.
Who is R.C.P. Singh?
Ram Chandra Prasad Singh is a retired UP-cadre IAS officer of the 1984 batch, and belongs to the same caste and district as Nitish.
The CM was the Union Railway Minister (1989-99) in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government when the late Uttar Pradesh leader Beni Prasad Verma introduced him to Singh. The two have been known to be inseparable ever since.
In 2005, Singh became Nitish’s principal secretary and, in 2010, after taking voluntary retirement from service, he joined the JD(U).
His rise in politics was meteoric. He was sent to Rajya Sabha in 2010 and made leader of the JD(U)’s parliamentary party. He has played a key role in seat distribution between the JD(U) and the BJP.
In December 2020, he was made national president of the JD(U), a post he held till July 2021, when he was made a Union minister under the JD(U) quota after Nitish Kumar was asked to recommend one name.
Since Singh has become a Union minister, though, his interactions with the CM are said to have become infrequent. “He did not attend the Iftar party hosted by Nitish Kumar, nor did he come to party functions. He appeared to have taken his No. 2 status for granted. The fact is that his rivalry with JD(U) president Lalan Singh is not helping”, said a JDU leader.
Meanwhile, the Bihar CM appears to be warming up to former ally RJD.
Not only are Tejashwi and Nitish Kumar on the same page on the caste census, during the 20 May CBI raid on RJD leader Rabri Devi’s official residence, party members openly said the move was aimed at preventing the RJD and Nitish from joining hands again.
There has been no contradiction by the JD(U) and they have stayed silent over the raid. Political observers say that Nitish’s usefulness to the BJP expires in 2024, but if he crosses over to the RJD, he can expand his political usefulness in the opposition. Singh’s future will be an indication of the times to come in Bihar.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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