New Delhi:
Shatrughan Sinha, the actor-turned-politician from Bihar, has many times touch the wrong nerve of his party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He was once the star campaigner of the party and a Cabinet minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. However, off late, he has had several fallouts with the current leadership after being ignored in the 2015 Bihar Assembly polls. Sinha, who has represented his native Patna Sahib as a BJP MP for two consecutive terms, said his remarks on various issues which have not been liked by some party leaders, were meant to “show the mirror” to the BJP and cannot be termed as “anti-party.” Speculations are rife that he may be denied a ticket for the Lok Sabha elections scheduled for next year.
However, Sinha’s latest stance has left everyone quizzing whether he would at all contest the elections on a BJP ticket. “Instead of guessing whether they (BJP leaders) will give me a ticket or not speculation should be whether I will take the ticket or not,” Sinha told PTI. The actor-turned BJP leader met jailed RJD president Lalu Prasad in Ranchi on Saturday. Though he said the meeting with Prasad at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences was personal. However, the timing of the meeting assumes significance as it is being speculated that he may enter into the fray from Patna Sahib from Prasad’s party if he is denied a BJP ticket for the Lok Sabha polls.
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Sinha has on several occasions made it clear that the “place (constituency) will be the same, even if the situation changes.” He said the loss of power in three states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh is enough to show that the situation is not good in the NDA.
“Many people have left, some others are preparing to leave and others driving tough negotiations... all said and done the party’s popularity and that of one leader and two-men Army have taken a beating,” he said. He was referring to Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) chief and former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi and RLSP leader Upendra Kushwaha leaving NDA and LJP of Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan bargaining hard with a “weakened” BJP.
(With PTI inputs)
