Actor-turned-politician and rebel BJP leader Shatrughan Sinha (72) on Saturday officially joined the Congress at the party headquarters in the national Capital, on the foundation day of the BJP. The four-term parliamentarian has been fielded as the Congress candidate from Patna Sahib. He will be contesting against BJP nominee and Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.
After joining the Congress, Sinha lashed out at the BJP leadership, describing the saffron outfit as a “one man show” and “two man army”.
“In the one-man show, two-man army, everything happens from Prime Minister’s Office... the Ministers can’t work freely anyway,” he said, adding “We have seen how democracy turned into autocracy.”
The Bihari Babu, as he is known, lauded Congress president Rahul Gandhi for bringing in NYAY scheme in the party manifesto. Sinha said Rahul is a “tried, tested and successful dynamic leader, who is the face of the nation and its future.”
“Providing Rs 6,000 to every poor so that his basic minimum income could rise up to Rs 12,000 per month is really a commendable step,” said Sinha.
Taking a jibe at the BJP over the snub to veteran leader LK Advani by not retaining him from Gandhinagar, Sinha said, “Advaniji was sent to Margdarshak Mandal which hasn’t held even a single meeting so far. They did the same to Jaswant Singh, Yashwant Sinha... I was even told that I have been a critic and that I will not be given a Cabinet post... but my image has been clean.”
He slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue of demonetisation. Calling demonetisation “probably the world’s biggest scam”, Sinha said, “It was a mindless decision... Several people died... Modiji’s mother was in the queue and we were told it was normal.”
The former BJP leader, who served under Vajpayee regime as Union Health Minister, besides Shipping Minister, lamented that senior and talented people were not given due respect in Narendra Modi-Amit Shah dispensation.
In an association that had been souring for years, the proverbial last straw was the BJP snubbing Shatrughan Sinha and naming a different candidate, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, for his Patna Sahib constituency.
Sinha said that Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Yadav has been “instrumental in my decision” to join the Congress.
There were reports that Sinha’s big bang admission into the Congress was delayed by the party’s tussle with the RJD over him. Sinha has been openly critical of the PM and Amit Shah and over the past year, his tweet-a-day barbs have been increasingly provocative for the party. In January, he even joined Opposition leaders in a mega rally in Kolkata hosted by Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Meanwhile, Congress has announced that former Himachal Pradesh Minister Ramlal Thakur will contest from the Hamirpur Lok Sabha seat in the State against sitting BJP MP Anurag Thakur.
In Punjab, the party fielded Jasbir Singh Gill Dimpa from Khadoor Sahib, former IAS officer Amar Singh from Fatehgarh Sahib (reserve), and folk singer Mohammed Sadique from the Faridkot Lok Sabha seat.
With the latest list of five candidates, a total of 377 names have been announced by the party for the Lok Sabha elections.
The names were announced after party leaders from Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Bihar met Congress president Rahul Gandhi earlier during the day.
Among those present during the meeting were: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, AICC secretary and the party’s Punjab affairs in-charge Asha Kumari, Himachal Pradesh Congress chief Kuldeep Rathore and State CLP leader Mukesh Agnihotri.