The lone induction from BJP ally JD(U)’s camp, Ram Chandra Prasad Singh or RCP Singh, is a former IAS officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre 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 service on Bihar Chief Minister and JD (U) chief Nitish Kumar’s instructions.
Hailing from Nalanda district and belonging to the Kurmi caste, the bureaucract-turned-politician, who took oath of office as Union Cabinet Minister, entered Kumar’s good books in the late 1990s when the then Samata Party leader was the Union Railway Minister and the Uttar Pradesh cadre IAS officer was on a central deputation.
Impressed by Singh’s abilities, Kumar borrowed him from the UP cadre and appointed him as his principal secretary after becoming the Chief Minister of Bihar.
Though not seen as a mass leader, Singh was given the key party post of national general secretary (organisation) which he held till his elevation as the national president earlier this year, when Kumar relinquished the top post.
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.
His daughter Lipi Singh is a young and dynamic Bihar cadre IPS officer who has won laurels for her crackdowns on some of the State’s most dreaded criminals.