After Rajya Sabha berth, RCP loses a house in Patna

Kumar Ravi, secretary, building construction department, said the bungalow has now been designated as the official residence of the chief secretary and allotted to chief secretary Amir Subhani.

Union minister Ramchandra Prasad Singh, a known confidant of Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar for years before he was recently denied a Rajya Sabha nomination by his party, the Janata Dal-United, suffered another setback on Thursday when the bungalow in the state capital Patna he has been occupying for a decade was allotted in the name of chief secretary Amir Subhani.

RCP Singh (extreme right) with Bihar CM Nitish Kumar. (HT Photo)

For the record, the bungalow in question, 7 Strand Road, was allotted in the name of JD(U) member of Legislative Council, Sanjay Gandhi, but Singh, popularly known as RCP Singh, had been living there for over 10 years, since he joined politics after taking voluntary retirement from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), people familiar with the matter said.

Kumar Ravi, secretary, building construction department, said the bungalow has now been designated as the official residence of the chief secretary and allotted to Subhani. “Gandhi had requested for another house and we have allotted him 10, Strand Road,” the official said.

Ravi, however, was quick to add there was no official record that union minister R C P Singh had been living in the bungalow.

Singh, currently union minister for steel, was considered, till recently, a confidant to CM Nitish Kumar, but was recently denied a third term in the Rajya Sabha, where his current six-year term ends in July. The denial of nomination has put a question mark over Singh’s continuance in the Union Cabinet.

Ahead of the union cabinet expansion last year, Singh was entrusted by JD-U with the responsibility of negotiating with ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for at least two berths for his party, according to sources.

However, JD(U, one of the oldest allies of BJP and having 16 MPs in the Lok Sabha at present, was spared just one berth and Singh was inducted into the cabinet. This, JD-U insiders say, didn’t go down well with CM Kumar, who is also the de facto supremo of the party.