Congress Jolted In UP As RPN Singh Quits Party, Might Join BJP

Lucknow, January 25 (TNA) The Congress on Tuesday suffered a big blow ahead of the state assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh as former Union Minister RPN Singh quit the Congress. He is reportedly joining the BJP later in the day. Singh hails from Kushinagar and was one of the prominent faces of Congress in eastern UP. He was also the state in-charge of the Jharkhand for Congress.

"Today, at a time, we are celebrating the formation of our great Republic, I begin a new chapter in my political journey. Jai Hind," he wrote in a brief letter to Sonia Gandhi.

It is reported that he might be pitted by the BJP against Swamy Prasad Maurya, who recently quit the saffron camp and joined the Samajwadi Party, from Padrauna. RPN Singh ahs been. athree-term MLA from Padrauna and an MP in 2009.