PATNA: Hours after receiving a show-cause notice by BJP over alleged anti-party activities, former Union Minister and senior leader Raj Kumar Singh resigned from the party.
Two other leaders, Ashok Agarwal and Usha Agarwal have also received show-cause notices and have been given a week to respond with reasons why they should not be expelled from the party.
Singh, a retired IAS officer of Bihar cadre, had been critical of Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary and state Health Minister Mangal Pandey after Jan Suraaj Party accused them of being involved in corruption and unlawful activities.
A former union minister for power, Singh had also alleged that Bihar would incur losses of over Rs 62,000 crore if a thermal plant was awarded to the Adani group. When he raised the matter with the state government, Singh was told that "everything was hunky-dory".
Singh had also accused Bihar BJP president Dilip Jaiswal of ruining the party’s image and demanded clarification from him.
Besides Singh, MLC Ashok Agarwal and Katihar Mayor Usha Agarwal have been issued show cause notices for their anti-party activities.
“You are indulging in anti-party activities. This falls within the scope of discipline. The party has taken a serious note of the matter. Your actions have caused loss to the party. Therefore, you are being suspended from the party and asked to explain within a week why you should not be suspended,” the show-cause notice said.
Before joining politics, Singh had served as home secretary during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s tenure. He had joined BJP in 2013 and offered a ticket from BJP. He contested 2014 Lok Sabha election from Arrah and won. He was again elected in 2019 election from the same seat.
In 2017, he was appointed as minister of power in the Narendra Modi 1.0 cabinet. In the 2024 election, he lost the seat. He, however, blamed a few leaders of the party for his defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha election. Since then, he has been critical of BJP and its leadership.