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  India   Shatrughan Sinha: BJP has not learnt from its Delhi defeat

Shatrughan Sinha: BJP has not learnt from its Delhi defeat

Published : Nov 22, 2015, 2:33 am IST
Updated : Nov 22, 2015, 2:33 am IST

Breathing fire and cautioning the party, BJP’s star MP, Mr Shatrughan Sinha, speaking exclusively to this newspaper, said the party leadership had not learnt from its Delhi defeat at the hands of AAP

Actor and BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha at Baba Sahab International Airport during his visit to Nagpur. (Photo: PTI)
 Actor and BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha at Baba Sahab International Airport during his visit to Nagpur. (Photo: PTI)

Breathing fire and cautioning the party, BJP’s star MP, Mr Shatrughan Sinha, speaking exclusively to this newspaper, said the party leadership had not learnt from its Delhi defeat at the hands of AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal.

Rubbing salt yet again in the wounds of a sulking BJP, Mr Sinha on Saturday praised Congress scion Rahul Gandhi for the “magic” he created in Bihar by wresting 27 Assembly seats. For him, the combination of Nitish-Lalu-Rahul was like “sone pe suhaga”. Asked whether “arrogance” was one of the reasons for BJP’s defeat in Bihar, Mr Sinha said, “Log toh yeh bhi kahte hain (The people say this, too).”

On being told that the BJP has decided to “ignore” him, Mr Sinha said, “They (BJP) have seen what happened to them in Bihar by ignoring me.” He then described veteran BJP leader L.K. Advani as his “friend, philosopher and guide”.

Mr Sinha also came out against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s campaign blitz in Bihar, saying, “The party should not have used the Prime Minister in such a manner. The party should have used the Prime Minister diligently and not gone for overkill and overexposure.” Mr Sinha said that if party leaders had asked him, “I would have cautioned them against such an overexposure.” At the same time, Mr Sinha credited the Prime Minister as well, saying, “Whatever number of seats BJP managed to get was also because of the Prime Minister’s campaign blitz.”

When asked about the BJP deciding to “ignore” him, Mr Sinha took a jab at the party: “Those who say I am not important and choose to ignore, they have seen the results.” Without naming names, Mr Sinha said the so-called “important leaders failed to see the writing on the wall”. Attacking the party high command, he said that during the Bihar elections the leaders “had closed their eyes like a pigeon”. He, however, hoped “good sense will prevail” on the BJP.

For him, “lack of coordination” and “import of baharis (outsiders), not Biharis” to manage the elections were some of the factors which led to the BJP collapse in Bihar. He steered clear of the question on whether Prime Minister Modi’s charisma and vote-catching abilities were on the wane. “That’s for people to see. I will not comment on that,” he said.

Asked whether he apprehended party action against himself for praising Opposition leaders, Mr Sinha quipped: “Kis kis pe action loge (Who all they will take action against).” Mr Sinha said that in the past he had praised Rahul Gandhi, Nitish Kumar, Mayawati, Kanshiram and Jyoti Basu, among other top Opposition leaders. He also pointed out that former PM Atal Behari Vajpayee had hailed Indira Gandhi as “Durga” inside Parliament. “Praising is no sin. Tell me what anti-party activities I had been indulging in,” he asked.

Mr Sinha appeared somewhat hurt that despite being an MP from Patna, the party chose to ignore him. “The people of Bihar did not like this. They were hurt,” he said. Mr Sinha yet again praised the Grand Alliance in Bihar and felt the victory was because of the “great combination” of Nitish Kumar, Lalu Prasad and Rahul Gandhi.

Location: India, Delhi, New Delhi