PATNA: Former Union Minister RCP Singh, at a function held here on Sunday announced the merger of his newly floated party—Aap Sabki Aawaz (ASA) with Jan Suraaj Party, founded by political strategist Prashant Kishor.The development comes as a moral booster for Jan Suraaj Party, which has already announced to contest all the 243 seats in the upcoming Bihar assembly elections due in October-November. Singh, a former Rajya Sabha member, hails from Nalanda, the home district of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, and belongs to the same Kurmi caste. With Nitish’s popularity on the decline—largely due to concerns over his health and increasingly unpredictable behaviour—Singh is being seen as a potential emerging leader within the Kurmi community.RCPSingh, who had to quit his cabinet berth after falling out of favour with JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar, formed Aap Sabki Aawaz on October 31, 2024. He had resigned from JD(U) after Nitish switched sides and joined the Mahagathabandhan or grand alliance in May 2023. Adding insult to injury, Prashant Kishor has announced a ‘reality check’ of the development work carried out under Nitish Kumar’s leadership in Bihar. “I will reveal the true state of development in Nitish’s own district,” he said, signalling a direct challenge to the Chief Minister’s claims of progress.
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