Nitish a man of vendetta: RCP Singh after quitting JD(U)
A day after quitting the Janata Dal (United), former union minister RCP Singh slammed the Bihar Chief Minister and called him "a man full of vendetta." Snubbing the party boss in an interview with NDTV, Singh said that Nitish Kumar "stopped low to target his daughters." The senior Bihar leader resigned from the party on Saturday after a show-cause notice over property irregularities.
Why does this story matter?
Coalition partners JD(U) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have been at loggerheads in the recent past, mainly due to Kumar's demand for conducting a caste census in Bihar (and across India). Singh's resignation comes weeks after he was chosen as a union minister allegedly without consulting the Bihar CM, who is rumored to be unhappy about the former's growing proximity with BJP.
Singh slams Kumar after quitting JD(U)
"Nitish Kumar is a man of vendetta and that is why he stooped so low to target my daughters," the former JD(U) national president said. Speaking on the allegations that Kumar was not consulted about his minister post, he said "It's a bare-faced lie." "Nitish Kumar asked me to go to Delhi and take oath as the minister," Singh told NDTV.
'JD(U) is a sinking ship'
The former minister's comments came a day after he resigned from the party. After submitting his resignation, Singh said that JD (U) is a sinking ship and there is no cure for CM's 'jealousy.' He further added, "There is nothing left in the party." However, on Sunday CM Kumar said that the JD(U) will not have any representatives in the union cabinet.
Singh resigned over corruption allegations
Singh's resignation came amid uproar over a video where he could reportedly be heard raising slogans that projected him as the next CM. The party sent him a notice over irregularities in property earlier this week and sought a reply on the properties he had purchased in the last nine years. "The properties were bought by my wife and daughters," Singh said.
What do the show cause notices say?
The notices have directed Singh to give details about the acquisition of 58 plots of land by his family members. This comes after two party leaders pointed out that the plots were not disclosed in Singh's Rajya Sabha election affidavit. But Singh confirmed that the land transactions are mentioned in his IT returns, as per ThePrint.
Who is RCP Singh?
A former IAS officer, RCP Singh quit bureaucracy to join active politics in 2010. He was the principal secretary to Kumar during the latter's first stint as CM. As Kumar stepped down from the role of party's national president, Singh became his successor while also clinching a cabinet berth in the Centre. "Kumar will never become the prime minister," Singh said after resigning.
