His association with the Gandhi family "shot [him] into political limelight", according to "The Times of India". However, Singh left the Gandhi-led Indian National Congress (INC) party in 1988 and joined Janata Dal, which was led by a relative of his first wife. Despite a general mood favouring Janata Dal, Singh's attempt to oust Rajiv Gandhi in the 1989 Indian general election did not reflect it and he was heavily defeated by the incumbent. He later changed his allegiance to that of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and in the 1998 Lok Sabha elections he won the Amethi constituency seat. After the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, a colleague of Gandhi in the INC, Satish Sharma, had become the Amethi representative but he neglected his constituents and caused them to flock to Singh. Although Singh stood again as the BJP candidate in the elections of 1999, on that occasion he was faced with a challenge from the widow of Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia, who played heavily on her family's contributions to the area. Singh lost.