The rift between Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and senior Janata Dal (United) leader RCP Singh continued to deepen with the state government allotting the latter’s government bungalow in Patna to the state’s chief secretary Sanjay Kumar.
The development barely comes a week after the JD(U) nominated Khiro Mehto to Rajya Sabha instead of RCP Singh, who is a Cabinet Minister in the BJP-led government at the Centre and once considered a confidante of Nitish Kumar.
Singh was living in the bungalow for over 12 years.
Singh, who was the only minister from the JD(U) quota in the NDA government, is set to retire from Rajya Sabha on July 7. He will not be able to continue as Union Minister for more than six months once he ceased to be a Member of Parliament.
The JD(U) has represented his party in the Upper House of Parliament since 2010. He was an IAS officer before joining politics. In 2005, Singh was appointed as principal secretary to Nitish Kumar when he was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Bihar.
After he joined the JD(U) in 2010, Nitish Kumar appointed RCP Singh as the party’s general secretary. He also served as national president of the JD(U) from December 2020 to July 2021.
After swearing in as the Union Minister in PM Modi’s cabinet, Singh was removed from the post of JD(U) chief on July 31, 2021, and was replaced by Rajiv Ranjan alias Lalan Singh. (ANI)
