JD(U) Chief RCP Singh's Meteoric Rise From Kurmi Bureaucrat To Cabinet Minister

Bureaucrat, politician and now a Union Minister, Ram Chandra Prasad Singh's meteoric rise began when he grabbed Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's attention.

Hailing from the state's Nalanda district and belonging to the Kurmi caste, RCP, as he is popularly known, took the oath of office as Union Cabinet Minister today evening. He came in Nitish Kumar's close proximity in the late 1990s when the then Samata Party leader was the Union Railway Minister and the Uttar Pradesh cadre Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer was on a central deputation.

Impressed by Mr Singh's abilities, Nitish Kumar borrowed him from the UP cadre and appointed him as his principal secretary after becoming the chief minister of Bihar.

However, Nitish Kumar seemed to have bigger plans for the 63-year-old RCP Singh, who made his political debut in 2010, getting elected to the Rajya Sabha on a JD(U) ticket after taking premature retirement from the civil services.

Though not seen as a mass leader, RCP Singh was given the key party post of national general secretary (organisation) which he held till his elevation to the post of National President earlier this year, when Nitish Kumar relinquished the top post.

Seen as a man of few words, the diminutive RCP Singh demonstrated that he was in tune with what was Nitish Kumar's thoughts and beliefs when he stoutly defended the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in Parliament, which was being vehemently opposed by the then JD(U) national vice president Prashant Kishor who was ultimately expelled from the party.

The father of Lipi Singh, a young and dynamic Bihar cadre Indian Police Service (IPS) officer who has won laurels for her crackdowns on some of the state's most dreaded criminals, RCP Singh seemed to have been hopeful of his induction in the Union cabinet soon after the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

However, BJP which was jubilant after securing a thumping majority on its own insisted that all allies should settle for a "token representation" at the Centre. This left Nitish Kumar slighted, and the wily politician declared that the JD(U) will not join the government.

The loss of trusted allies like Shiv Sena in the recent past and the realisation that in the caste-dominated politics of Bihar, BJP cannot do without Nitish Kumar, compelled BJP to finally give RCP Singh and the JD(U) their honourable due.