Former BJP MP Uday Singh, who has represented Purnea Lok Sabha constituency in Bihar twice, announced his resignation from the party in Patna on Friday alleging that it has surrendered before the discredited JD(U) headed by chief minister Nitish Kumar.
Singh did not reveal his cards, saying that until he resigned from the BJP, he had no right to negotiate with any other party, but gave ample hints saying he may join a Grand Alliance constituent.
He said he saw Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s popularity growing even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi of whom he had been an ardent supporter, seemed to have withdrawn himself from reality even if he has good intentions.
He also said that even while in the BJP, he never approved of the slogan of Congress-mukt Bharat. A democracy cannot survive if the opposition is wiped out. It will degenerate into a totalitarian regime, he said.
Singh, whose elder brother NK Singh is the chairman of the 15th Finance Commission, had lost his seat in 2014 to JD(U)’s Santosh Kushwaha by a margin of more than one lakh votes notwithstanding the strong Modi wave.
With the BJP and JD(U) having agreed to fight 17 seats each, leaving six for Ram Vilas Paswan’s LJP, and Purnea being a sitting seat of Nitish Kumar’s party, there is little likelihood for Singh being considered for the seat, which he had won in 2004 and 2009, and his mother Madhuri Singh had represented as a Congress nominee in the 1980s.
Singh, however, maintained that his decision had nothing to do with the possibility of getting a ticket from his seat as NDA constituents are yet to finalise which constituency will be fought by which party.
Replying to a query, he said so far he had no talks with Rahul Gandhi or (RJD supremo) Lalu Prasad. But he was looking forward to speaking to them after taking his supporters into confidence.
He claimed that there is widespread resentment among the party cadre over the ‘undemocratic style of functioning’ of the current leadership and remarked it is very difficult to meet BJP president Amit Shah.
RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha kept requesting for an appointment, which was never given, and he ultimately had to resign from the Union council of ministers and quit the NDA in sheer disappointment, he said.
“Committed BJP workers are appalled over the manner the party agreed to share power with Nitish Kumar, forgetting our bitter experiences with him in the past, and also over the fact that his government is rapidly losing goodwill. Now, the BJP will end up sharing the blame for his misdeeds. And as if that was not enough, he was given such a massive share of seats,” he remarked.