Assembly elections in Bihar are next year, but new political parties are coming to the fore one after the other. After Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraj Party, now RCP Singh, who was close to Nitish, has also announced to form a new party, which has been named ‘Aap Sabki Awaaz’. RCP Singh has also announced to field his candidates on 140 out of 243 seats in Bihar. In such a situation, the question arises that for whom will RCP Singh become a headache by forming a new party?
RCP Singh, who came into politics by holding the finger of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, has been a Union Minister and National President of Janata Dal United. Although RCP Singh had joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) last year in 2023 after his relations with Nitish deteriorated, but he was isolated after the political changes in Bihar. Due to living in political wilderness for almost 2 years, he has become disillusioned with BJP and now he has announced to form his new party.
Party announcement on Patel’s birth anniversary
RCP Singh chose Diwali as well as the birth anniversary of Sardar Patel to form his new party. This clearly shows which vote bank RCP Singh has his eyes on. RCP Singh not only comes from Nalanda, the home constituency of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, but also comes from the same community i.e. Kurmi community.
In such a situation, RCP is eyeing to establish itself as a Kurmi leader along with the Kurmi votebank. Kurmi community considers Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel as its political messiah. That is why RCP has also tried to give a political message to the Kurmi community by laying the foundation of its party on the birth anniversary of Sardar Patel.
Like Nitish, RCP is also a Kurmi leader
Kurmi community in Bihar is currently considered the core vote bank of Nitish Kumar. Nitish created his strong political hold in Bihar through the Kurmi-Koeri equation and with the help of that he has maintained his dominance for 2 decades. At one time, RCP Singh was considered the second strongest leader in JDU after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. People close to RSP feel that after Nitish becomes weak, RCP can be established as a big Kurmi leader. In this, he may also get the support of JDU workers, who are feeling neglected due to the weakening of Nitish Kumar.
RCP Singh was avoiding saying anything against Nitish Kumar and BJP for many days, but after spending two years in the political wilderness, he is now preparing to come out and form a new party. The slogan ‘Tiger is still alive’ is written in the hoarding put up by RCP Singh’s supporters in Patna. Along with the formation of a new political party on Thursday, he also appeared aggressive towards Nitish, but did not adopt a very strict attitude. In this way, by forming his own party, RCP Singh wants not only JDU but also BJP to realize his strength.
Who will suffer more from the arrival of the new party?
Political analysts believe that Nitish Kumar’s party and BJP will suffer more losses than RCP’s new party and its candidates. Anyway, RCP is considered to have more influence in the same class which is a traditional supporter of NDA. RCP had left JDU and joined BJP, but as soon as Nitish came back together, BJP left him in the political middle. This is the reason why now RSP is also forming a party to prove its political strength.
RCP’s relations with Nitish Kumar had deteriorated because of BJP. RCP Singh had become a part of the Modi cabinet despite Nitish’s unwillingness, due to which he had to leave JDU. After separation from Nitish, RCP also joined BJP, but later had to leave it too.
RCP Singh clearly says that he could not be used as much as he should have been in BJP. In such a situation, RCP Singh has now formed a new party with the intention of consolidating the Kurmi votes, but it is difficult to say how successful it will be, but one thing is certain that it will be seen making a dent in the Kurmi votes. If this happens, then the political path ahead is not going to be easy for JDU?
