Patna, May 18 (UNI) Former Union Minister RCP Singh, who was once a close confidant of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, on Sunday merged his party Aap Sabki Awaj (AASA) with Jan Suraaj and vowed to work with its founder Prashant Kishor to build a better Bihar.

Singh, along with his supporters, announced the merger of his party AASA with Jan Suraaj in the presence of Kishor. Both Kishore and Singh expressed their commitment to work for building Bihar, which would be free from crime, corruption and communalism.

Kishor, speaking on the occasion, said that Chief Minister Kumar had once asked him to expand JD(U) in such a way that there could be no space for crime, corruption and communalism. He was then in JD(U), the Jan Suraaj leader recalled.

"JD(U) is not a party which was once under the dynamic leadership of Chief Minister Kumar, as it has been hijacked by four ministers close to him after the physical and mental ability of Kumar decreased so much that he is not taking any decision on his own," Kishor said and exhorted JD(U) workers to join Jan Suraaj, as their party was now a sinking ship after Kumar lost control over it. Workers in JD(U) were honest and committed, he noted.

Singh, on his part, appreciated Kishor and recalled how both of them had played a crucial role in scripting the victory of the Grand Alliance and the formation of its government in 2015. Grand Alliance had stopped the victory spree of BJP in Bihar, he pointed out.

"Kishor has been working hard for making a better Bihar, and it could be achieved sooner after his party merged with Jan Suraaj and both work together," Singh said. It was certain that PM Narendra Modi had no thought for the development of Bihar and his focus was on Gujarat, he pointed out.

"The national average per capita income is Rs 2 lakhs, while in Bihar it is just Rs 60,000, and the gap would remain so even after India becomes a developed country by 2047, as being claimed by PM Modi," the former Union Minister emphasised.

He had given a number of suggestions to Chief Minister Kumar for tapping vast mineral resources in Bihar, including gold, but no attention was given by him, he pointed out.

National Mineral Development Corporation(NMDC) in its report had stated about vast resources of minerals in Bihar, but the Nitish Kumar government was indifferent in taking steps for tapping the same, he lamented.

UNI KKS ARN