NREGA driver will not be on govt bandwagon

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) was one the cornerstones of the UPA government campaign to get back to power. And yet in the hour of the alliance’s triumph, the man who steered the programme successfully for five years is nowhere near the UPA photo-op.

Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, who was rural development minister in the last UPA government, finds himself on the wrong side of history. His party president Lalu Prasad Yadav’s decision to part ways with the Congress on the eve of polls has meant that his party will have to bank on the Congress’ generosity if it wants any part in the government.

Congressmen have a fondness for Raghuvansh Prasad Singh. “Raghuvansh babu has been appreciated by both Congress president Sonia Gandhi and prime minister Manmohan Singh for his handling of NREGA and Bharat Nirman. But the situation with the RJD is such that it is unlikely that he will be part of the government,” said a senior Congressman.

“The Congress would love to offer the portfolio to Singh, but Lalu Yadav would probably not agree without himself in the picture,” said the Congressman.

Singh himself is philosophical about the turn of events. “It was a mistake to leave the Congress. I had warned Lalu Yadav,” he said.