Kunwar Ratanjit Pratap Narain Singh , popularly known as R. P. N. Singh, is an Indian agriculturist 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. Padrauna is a city in Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh.
Table of Contents
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 primary 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.
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.
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.
RPN 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.
RPN Singh with his wife
Caste
RPN Singh belongs to an OBC (Other Backward Class) family.
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. 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.
RPN 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.
RPN 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 and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party, a month ahead of the 2022 UP elections.
RPN Singh on joining the BJP
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 reports 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.”
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.”
RPN Singh’s tweet
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.
Net Worth
In 2019, his net worth was Rs. 29,54,74,005 approximately.
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).
- Singh is fond of Diet Coke and Chips.
- He was an avid smoker, but he gave up smoking when he faced some serious health issues due to it.
- 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.
RPN Singh with Sonia Gandhi