Clarify on Rafale or people will say ‘chowkidar chor hai’: Shatrughan

Kolkata: Slamming Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Rafale deal, BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha on Saturday called for changing the government at the Centre. Justifying his controversial comments against the BJP, he asserted the country was above party to him.

“There is only one target and one purpose — Change for progress under a new leadership to move towards a new and right direction. Many times people ask me why do you speak against the BJP when you are still in the BJP? Why do you express your rebellion? Are you a rebel?” Mr Sinha said during his speech.

“Let me tell you if speaking the truth amounts to rebellion then I am a rebel. During Atal Behari Vajpayee’s rule the people topped the priority. But in the present rule, autocracy prevails.. People asked why I spoke against it as it was a party decision. It was not the party’s decision, I believe,” he said.

Targeting the Prime Minister, Mr Sinha said, “The worst is Rafale deal. I am not saying you are guilty. At the same time I am also not saying that you are not guilty. If you try to hush up the issue, the people of the country will obviously say chowkidar chor hai.”

The BJP, meanwhile, made it clear that the party will take “cognisance” of his presence at the Opposition rally and termed the actor-turned-politician an “opportunist.”

BJP’s national spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said he was in the party to enjoy the perks of being an MP, but at the same time seen making different voices at various platforms.

Referring to former BJP leader Yashwant Sinha on the dais, Mr Sinha pointed out, “Former finance minister of our country was just telling me that I will be thrown out of the party after attending this rally. I told him: It does not matter to me because what I know and follow is that even if I am with the BJP, I am of the country’s populace first. Any party is greater than an individual and nation is above the party.”

He added, “Nothing is above the nation. If I talk in the interest of the nation, it automatically means that I also talk in the interest of the party and people. I only try to show a mirror to the party that it is democracy.”