Tweet hints Shatrughan Sinha may go back to BJP

Following a tweet by Congress leader Shatrughan Sinha, speculations are doing rounds that veteran leader is set to take a political plunge and rejoin the Bharatiya Janata Party, writes ETV Bharat Bihar Bureau Chief Amit Bhelari.

Patna: Bollywood actor-turned-politician and former MP Shatrughan Sinha has triggered a spark in Bihar politics with his four lines tweet in which he has given a hint to rejoin the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Sinha posted a tweet from his official Twitter handle on Sunday.

"There are four types of unhappy people in the world. First – some are unhappy with themselves, Second-some are unhappy with others' unhappiness, Third- some are unhappy with others' happiness and Fourth- New Variant – Without any reason unhappy with Modi,” Sinha wrote in his recent tweets. His tweets are seen as praise for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and at the same time, he is also questioning the leadership of his own party (Congress) who keeps on attacking the Modi government and his policy.

Congress leader Shatrughan Sinha's tweet

Call him Bihari Babu, Shotgun or Khamosh, seventy-five years old Sinha had broken the long association with the BJP much before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls when the party had denied him a ticket from Patna Sahib parliamentary constituency. When he had quit the BJP in 2019, Sinha had categorically said that it was painful for him to see the treatment given to its stalwarts like LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie.

However, With the sudden change in Sinha's tone, speculations are rife that he no longer wants to be associated with the Congress party and wants to shift his loyalty to the saffron party. In 2019, when Sinha was denied a ticket by the BJP, he joined Congress and contested the Lok Sabha polls against Ravi Shankar Prasad. However, Sinha was defeated by Prasad by a huge margin.

As a BJP candidate in 2014, Sinha had defeated the Congress candidate and Bhojpuri superstar Kunal Singh whereas in 2009, the veteran actor had defeated Congress candidate and actor Shekhar Suman with a margin of around 1.5 lakh votes. Meanwhile, a Congress leader of Bihar has expressed his disappointment over Sinha's tweet and demanded that he withdraw the statement from Twitter.

While speaking to ETV Bharat over the phone, Congress MLC Prem Chandra Mishra said, “He is a big leader of the party, I really don't know why he made such a comment, only he can tell the reason. As far as being critical of PM Modi is concerned, the Congress party does not have any personal animosity with him. Our leader is Rahul Gandhi ji and he only criticizes whenever he finds the Modi government not performing well. Modi ji did not fulfill a single promise which he made in the last seven years so his criticism is obvious. Be it demonetization or Covid, Modi ji did not perform up to expectation.”

Asked about Sinha getting disillusioned from the Congress party, Mishra further said, “Only he is the right person to answer your question. I don't think it will happen so early. The Congress party not only gave him a ticket but also to his son (Luv Sinha) during the Bihar assembly polls in Bihar last year. In which context he has written those words only he can tell. As far as the Congress party is concerned, we believe that Modji has not done anything so he is bound to be criticized. The party also believes that Modi ji has been a leader of a failed government since the beginning. Even at the time of demonetization, the country faced trouble. Inflation is at an all-time high, unemployment has increased, there is a situation of undeclared emergency and people have no right to speak. For all these, people will criticize Modi ji and we will keep on doing in the future as well. If Sinha has said in the context of Congress, I think he must give a rethink and should withdraw it.”

Bihari Babu is the first actor-turned-politician who became Union Minister in the regime of Atal Bihari Vajpayee in the 15th Lok Sabha election. Sinha had held two portfolios, health and family welfare (Jan 2003-May 2004) and Shipping (Aug 2004).

Patna-based political expert Dr Sanjay Kumar said, “Shatrughan Sinha's tweet can be seen from two perspectives - first, he has started liking the BJP and second he is not happy with the policy of the Congress party. He has fully understood that the Congress party is not going to come to power in the near future. He has all the ground to go back to BJP as he had a long association with the saffron party. With his tweet, he has once again given the indication to join the fold of BJP. Now it is up to BJP how much value the party gives him.”

He further said, “No doubt he has his own identity both at national and international level and he wants to go near to Modi slowly and gradually by praising him. He is a leader of such stature that BJP can establish him or adjust anywhere in India by sending him to Rajya Sabha. In recent times, we have seen how big leaders of Congress like Jitin Prasada and Jyotiraditya Scindia have joined the BJP. Even Sachin Pilot is not happy. I must say that in politics it is very tough for most of the leaders to remain out of power for a long time because they often lack patience.”

Sinha was a member of the Rajya Sabha till 2008 and made his mark in Bollywood with films like Kaala Patthar, Shaan, Naseeb, Vishwanath, Kalicharan, Dostana and many others.