Only wives of Congress's leaders have been given tickets: BJP

Former Union minister RPN Singh, who recently joined the BJP, claims that the Congress's 'ladki hoon' slogan will have no impact on the assembly elections, stating that the party's tickets have solely gone to the spouses of its leaders.

He also downplayed the significance of UP minister and OBC leader Swami Prasad Maurya transferring to the Samajwadi Party, claiming that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has broken down caste barriers through development projects led by the inclusive philosophy of "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vishwas."

Ratanjit Pratap Narain Singh aka RPN, a former close adviser to Rahul Gandhi, claims the Congress no longer exists as a party or an ideology.

When asked about Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's "Ladki hoon, lad sakti hoon" (I am a girl, and I can fight) slogan, he derided the fact that a "poster girl" from the campaign had shifted to the BJP.

He said, "Every person gives a slogan in the election. If the Congress has given a slogan it will have no effect in the election because the tickets have been given to the wives of Congress leaders."

Mr. RPN is the son of former Union Minister CPN Singh and hails from the princely state of Padrauna. Beginning in 1996, he was elected to the Padrauna Municipal Assembly for three consecutive terms.

He is no longer running for office, but he is campaigning for BJP candidates in his home district of Kushinagar. On March 3, Kushinagar will vote in the sixth phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

He further said, "I have clearly seen that Dalits, backwards, most backward and upper caste people have broken caste barriers after being motivated by the schemes, working style and efforts towards nation building of Prime Minister Narendra Modi."

Mr. Singh denied claims that he was enlisted to compensate for the BJP's loss of support among the backward castes following Swami Prasad Maurya's decision to join the SP. He claimed that PM Modi had broken down caste barriers and that people of all castes now support him.

He claimed he was privileged to witness the implementation of the kinds of initiatives that "we used to dream of" in UP's Purvanchal.

When asked how he meant to oppose Mr. Maurya, who is from the same district, Mr. Singh said it was "their mistake" if people thought they had become significant figures after winning elections on a BJP ticket and becoming ministers.

"Those who get tickets from the BJP win because of the working style of Narendra Modi and Yogi Adityanath," he said, cautioning against harbouring the "illusion of being a big leader".

Singh added that the fate of UP Congress president Ajay Kumar Lallu, who has thrice won the Tamkuhiraj assembly seat in Kushinagar district, will be decided by the people.

Mr. Singh, when asked why he joined the BJP, remarked, "I worked in the Congress for 32 years with honesty, hard work, and dedication. But now neither that party nor its ideology is left." "I never did politics of bargaining and joined the BJP in the capacity of a worker, for the development of the country, UP and Purvanchal."

In response to a question on his post-election role in the BJP, he remarked, "I always put hard work, dedication, duty, and the spirit of service ahead in politics and now I am working hard in BJP. Whatever work is given to me, I will do it with full dedication." When asked about the manner in which Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi conducted themselves, he said that people are leaving the party after decades of service.

When asked which party the BJP sees as its main rival in Uttar Pradesh, Mr. Singh replied, "The rival of the BJP is the party that doesn't follow the Constitution, takes the side of oppressors, criminals and those who give shelter to criminals."

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