Giving a strong jolt to the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) ahead of Bihar Assembly elections, senior leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh on Thursday quit the party.
Currently, he is admitted at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi following some health issues. Singh has sent a letter to RJD chief Lalu Prasad announcing his resignation from the party.
Addressing Lalu, he wrote: “I kept standing behind you for 32 years after the demise of Karpuri Thakur, but not any longer.”
Singh has sent this letter to journalists here. Issuing an apology to the people he wrote, “Party, leaders, workers and people gave me lots of love. Regrets.”
The RJD leader have been keeping mum over Singh’s resignation, but the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Janata Dal United are terming his decision as the “right” one.
On the other hand, RJD spokesman Mrityunjay Tiwari said: “I got to know about his resignation from the media. I have not received any official information.”
“I’ll only give any statement after official information is received,” he said.
Meanwhile, JDU spokesman Ajay Alok said: “Singh is a senior leader, he should have taken this step long ago.”
“The RJD has become an Acacia tree that’s why people are running from it,” he said.
Over a question over whether there was a possibility of Singh joining the JDU, he said: “Any party would welcome a big leader like him.”
It must be recalled that Singh was angry over talks about former MP Rama Singh’s entry into the RJD. Earlier, he had resigned from all party posts to register his dissent. However, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav had met him in the hospital and tried to convince him but the efforts were futile.
Admitted at AIIMS, New Delhi, Singh could not be contacted.