Union minister RCP Singh has not joined BJP: Report

Patna, July 04: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has denied the reports that JD(U) leader and Union minister RCP Singh has joined the saffron party.

Singh came to Hyderabad to attend the parliamentary committee meeting of his ministry. He was just welcomed by the BJP workers at the Hyderabad airport as a Union Steel Minister and NDA ally.

There was speculation about his next course of action after JD(U) top brass denied him Rajya Sabha ticket despite being the minister from the party's quota.

A former IAS officer who entered politics in 2010, Singh, known by his initials "RCP" in political circles, had a meteoric rise in politics thanks to his proximity to the chief minister whom he had served in various capacities since Kumar's stint as the railway minister. The elevation of Singh as the JD(U)'s national president in January last year, when Kumar gave up the top post in the party, raised many eyebrows.

Within a few months, Singh became a Union minister and people close to Kumar said that the ambitious bureaucrat-turned-politician had lobbied for himself without taking the mentor into confidence. The wily Kumar bared his teeth by making Singh quit the party president's post which is now held by his old associate Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan.