Shatrughan Sinha defies party line on Kanhaiya Kumar

Mounting a frontal attack on the party leadership and siding with JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar, BJP MP from Patna Sahib Shatrughan Sinha on Wednesday said, “Kanhaiya Kumar didn’t say anything anti-national.” The senior BJP leader also “wished for his immediate release” and urged his party leaders to be “cautious while making sweeping statements maligning an institution”.

Mr Sinha contradicted his own party leaders who had opposed and protested against Kumar’s JNU speech terming it as “anti-national”.

He claimed that he “heard the transcript of Bihari boy Kanhiya Kumar, president of JNUSU. He has said nothing anti-national or anything against the Constitution”.

The hard-hitting statements were made through a series of tweets on Wednesday which left BJP state unit leaders fuming and demanding Mr Sinha’s expulsion from the party for taking “anti-party views”.

“The BJP will not tolerate anti-national activities and if Mr Sinha thinks Kumar is innocent or whatever he said was not anti-national then he must first resign from the Lok Sabha,” BJP state president Mangal Pandey said in a reaction to Mr Sinha’s tweets.

Mr Sinha, who has been critical of his own party since the Bihar Assembly election, through his messages indicated that he has decided to escalate attacks against his own party, the BJP. Taking similar view on the issue, leaders of the Grand Secular Alliance, including the RJD and the JD(U), slammed the BJP for “trying to falsely implicate Kanhaiya Kumar”.

“By creating divisive environment they want to forcefully enter everywhere but that will not happen. JNU is a premiere institution where students of different views and ideology take admission to study and research,” RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav said in reaction to Kanhaiya Kumar’s arrest.

Mr. Yadav said, “High level probe committee would be a better idea but arresting and creating ruckus over the issue only indicates of divisive design which could lead to an unrest”