Former BJP MP Uday Singh Named First National President Of Jan Suraaj Party

Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor on Monday announced that former BJP MP Uday Singh has been unanimously chosen as its first national president.

Addressing a press conference here, Prashant Kishor said he will now concentrate on public outreach, delegating the responsibility of running the organisation to the likes of Uday Singh, and RCP Singh, who had joined the party on Sunday.

"I can now resume my 'padayatra' in Bihar from tomorrow," Prashant Kishor said.

Kishor also asserted that Uday Singh, known to be providing logistical support to the party, was "chosen, not by a mere majority, but unanimously" by a committee set up for the purpose.

Floated on October 2 last year, Jan Suraaj Party had since been functioning without a full fledged president. While Kishor has made it clear that he would not keep any post with himself, former IPS officer Manoj Bharti was named the "working president" soon after inception.

Uday Singh, who had won the Purnea Lok Sabha seat for the BJP in 2004 and 2009, is the younger brother of N K Singh, a retired bureaucrat who is also a former Rajya Sabha MP and had headed the 15th Finance Commission.

The newly named national president of Jan Suraaj Party had been in political wilderness since 2014 when he lost his seat. In the two subsequent Lok Sabha polls, the seat went to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U) as part of arrangements within the NDA.

Kishor noted with pride, "the likes of Uday Singh, RCP Singh and Manoj Bharti are proof that our party has a talent pool that is unmatched".

RCP Singh, a former principal secretary to Nitish Kumar, had resigned from the Indian Administrative Services to join politics, and enjoyed two successive Rajya Sabha terms and also headed the JD(U) for a while.

He also got a berth in the Union cabinet, which had displeased Kumar, following which he quit the JD(U) and joined the BJP. Last year, he floated 'Aap Sabki Aawaz', which was merged with Jan Suraaj Party on Sunday.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)