Ram Chandra Prasad Singh, 62 years, a former civil servant turned politician is a name to reckon with in Bihar. He is the new President of the ruling Janata Dal (United). RCP Singh before joining the civil services, studied at Jawaharlal Nehru University and used to live in Panchvati Ho
stel. Ramnath Thakur, the son of a veteran leader Karpoori Thakur, and Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha Harivansh were his university mates. It is said that when he walked, he used to like his colleagues walking behind him. Singh, a Kurmi by caste, hails from Nalanda, which is also Nitish Kumar’s home district. Nitish Kumar’s sudden move to hand over the party to RCP Singh is seen as a very calculated game plan by the coalition partner BJP. RCP Singh has been associated with Nitish Kumar for more than two decades. He has also served as PS to Nitish Kumar when he was the Union Minister for Railways in 1998-99. In his earlier stint as Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar had veteran George Fernandes and Arun Jaitley as his guides and counsellors. After the split with George, Nitish developed a rapport with his deputy Sushil Modi of the BJP to liaison with BJP high command in Delhi. Now BJP has a new set of leaders under the leadership of Jagat Prakash Nadda, who was born in Bihar. And Bhupinder Yadav, a close confidant of Home Minister Amit Shah, deals with Bihar. Nitish needed a shock absorber in the chaotic political system and a second-in-command in the party. None other than RCP Singh could have fitted the space. It does appear that Nitish Kumar, 69 years, is ready to hand over the baton to sharp, shrewd RCP, but most of Bihar’s politicians are waiting to see, what next? G
