Kunwar Ratanjit Pratap Narain Singh [1]My Neta, popularly known as R. P. N. Singh, is an Indian agriculturist [2]My Neta and politician. He is a former Union Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs (2012), Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Corporate Affairs (2011-2012), and Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways (2009-2011). He is well known as the Raja Saheb of Padrauna. [3]NDTV Padrauna is a city in Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh.
Wiki/Biography
R. P. N. Singh was born on Saturday, 25 April 1964 (age 58 years; as of 2022) in New Delhi, India. His zodiac sign is Taurus. He did his schooling at The Doon School, Dehradun, Uttarakhand. In 1980, he enrolled himself at St. Stephen’s College, New Delhi, to pursue B.A. (Hons.) History. [4]My Neta
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 7″
Hair Colour: Salt & Pepper
Eye Colour: Brown
Family
Kunwar Ratanjit Pratap Narain Singh belongs to a royal Kurmi Sainthwar family of Padrauna, Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh. [5]The Times of India
Parents & Siblings
Ratanjit Pratap Narain Singh’s father, Kunwar Chandra Pratap Narayan Singh, was an MP from Kushinagar (then Hata). His father was also a Minister of State for Defence in the Indira Gandhi cabinet in 1980. His mother’s name is Mohini Devi.
Ratanjit Pratap Narain Singh’s father
Wife & Children
On 7 December 2002, Ratanjit Pratap Narain Singh tied the knot with Sonia Singh, a news anchor and editorial director at NDTV. The couple has three daughters.
Ratanjit Pratap Narain Singh with his wife
Caste
RPN Singh belongs to an OBC (Other Backward Class) family. [6]NDTV
Career
Ratanjit Pratap Narain Singh started his political career in the 1990s. He served as the Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Uttar Pradesh from 1996 to 2009 (he won the UP Assembly elections three times, i.e., in 1996, 2002, and 2007). In 1997, he was elected as the President of the Uttar Pradesh Youth Congress. He served the position till 1999. He was then appointed as the Secretary of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) in 2003.
Ratanjit Pratap Narain Singh attending a meeting of the In-charges of Congress
In 2009, Ratanjit was elected to the 15th Lok Sabha from the Padrauna constituency (on a ticket from the Congress party). Subsequently, he was appointed as the Union Minister of State, Road, Transport and Highways from 2009 to 2011. In 2011, he was made the Union Minister of State in the Department of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Corporate Affairs. In 2013, Singh became the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs. He held the seat for around a year.
Ratanjit Pratap Narain Singh addressing the public during Sonia Gandhi’s rally in Padrauna, Kushinagar
Singh contested the elections for the 16th Lok Sabha from the Padrauna constituency on a Congress ticket but lost to Rajesh Pandey of the Bharatiya Janata Party. In September 2020, Ratanjit was chosen as the AICC in-charge of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. In January 2022, he resigned from his position in the Indian National Congress. Sharing his resignation letter on social media, he wrote,
I hereby tender my resignation from the primary membership of the Indian National Congress with immediate effect. I thank you for providing me with an opportunity to serve the nation, its people and the party.”
Soon after sharing his resignation, he tweeted,
Today, when the entire nation is celebrating Republic Day, I am starting a new chapter in my political life. Jai Hind.”
On 25 January 2022, he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party. He joined the party in the presence of Jyotiraditya Scindia, an Indian politician who took the Congress-to-BJP route in 2020. At the event, Singh while talking to the reporters said,
I have been in one party for the last 32 years, but today I must say that party is no longer what it used to be. Today, everyone knows that if there is one party that is working for the benefit of the people and is working on building the nation, it is the BJP.”
Ratanjit Pratap Narain Singh on joining the BJP
While announcing his weld with the Bharatiya Janata Party, Ratanjit Singh took to Twitter and wrote,
This is a new beginning for me and I look forward to my contribution to nation building under the visionary leadership & guidance of the Honourable Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi, BJP President Shri @JPNadda ji & Honourable Home Minister @AmitShah ji.”
Ratanjit Pratap Narain Singh’s tweet
Later, while addressing a conference, Ratanjit said that the Indian National Congress and its ideology in the present day was no more the way it used to be before. He said,
I spent 32 years in one political party. But that party has not remained the same as it was before. I will work as a ‘karyakarta’ towards fulfilling Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dreams for India.”
Controversy
In 2014, during the Indian general elections, Ratanjit Singh took a dig at the prime ministerial candidate of the Bharatiya Janata Party Narendra Modi and said,
No one has seen him selling tea. Modi himself was telling that he used to sell tea.”
He further took a dig at Modi’s assurance of 24 hours power supply and said,
Why didn’t BJP fulfil its promise during the regime of Atal Bihari Vajpayee at the Centre and Kalyan Singh, Ram Prakash Gupta and Rajnath Singh in Uttar Pradesh.”
He also termed BJP as ‘Dream Seller” and said that the party could even promise to turn the water of the Saryu river into milk. His statements outraged the supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party. [7]The Economic Times
Address
Permanent
The Palace, Padrauna, Distt. Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh
Present
95, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi – 110 003
Salary/Income
RPN Singh earned an income of around Rs. 10,61,451 in the year 2018-2019. [8]My Neta
Net Worth
In 2019, his net worth was Rs. 14,54,93,833 approximately. [9]My Neta
Assets & Properties
Movable Assets
- Cash Rs. 2,28,000
- Bank Deposits Rs. 51,24,711
- Bonds, Debentures & Shares worth Rs. 15,90,224
- Motor Vehicles worth Rs. 20,10,898
- Jewellery worth Rs. 24,00,000
Immovable Assets
- Agricultural Land worth Rs. 65,40,000
- Non-Agricultural Land worth Rs. 4,00,00,000
- Residential Buildings worth Rs. 8,55,00,000
- Other Land Rs. 21,00,000 (as of 2019) [10]My Neta
Facts/Trivia
- He loves reading, travelling and playing sports in his leisure time.
- In April 2016, RPN Singh won the Duke of Edinburgh Award (Gold).
- He was an avid smoker, but he gave up smoking when he faced some serious health issues due to it. [12]News 18
- He is the secretary of Sri Aurobindo Society Centre (Padrauna), Udit Narain Degree College, Udit Narain Inter College, and Udit Narain Trust.
- RPN Singh served as the president of The Doon School Old Boys’ Society, an alumni body of The Doon School, from 2014 to 2018.
- Apparently, Ratanjit is the fourth Doon School alumnus to leave the Indian National Congress for the Bharatiya Janata Party (from 2020 to 2022). The other exits (from Congress) include Jyotiraditya Scindia, Jitin Prasada, and Amarinder Singh.
- During one of his election campaigns in Kushinagar, RPN was seen making Jalebis in a trade fair. The people present at the fair were surprised by his actions and when he was asked why he was making Jalebis. Pointing towards the worker in the sweet shop, he replied,
when he can, why can’t I.”
- Ratanjit once shared a great rapport with Sonia Gandhi, the president of the Indian National Congress. He was so close to her that Sonia used to stay at his family home in Padrauna whenever she visited the nearby area in Uttar Pradesh.
Ratanjit Pratap Narain Singh with Sonia Gandhi
