Even PM Doesn’t Give in to Political Differences: Shatrughan Sinha
Shatrughan Sinha says his opinions should not be thought of as anti-party and that political opponents aren’t enemies
BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha had yesterday expressed unhappiness over the suspension of 25 Congress members from the Lok Sabha.
His tweet, however, invited a dig from Union minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy who said he was an artiste and not aware of the circumstances in which the Speaker had taken the decision, as he does not come frequently to the House.
He is an artiste. So his comments should be taken in that context
– Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Union Minister to reporters
Sinha, who is said to be unhappy with the party leadership for ignoring him, also showered praise on Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, a bete noire of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling him “a leader of the masses”
The veteran actor, however, later issued a clarification after his comments triggered yet another round of speculation over his political motives and said feeling sad or happy about anything is not “anti-party activity”.
According to an NDTV report, Sinha and Kumar’s recent meetings and praise for one another have highly irritated the party – especially at a time that the BJP hopes to “deprive Mr Kumar of a third consecutive term in office”.
Mr Sinha had tweeted a strong statement saying political differences should be kept aside from personal ones.
In fact, he said, somewhat aggressively, “Our dashing dynamic Prime minister attended (Congress leader) Digvijaya Singh’s son’s wedding”. This seems unlikely to placate the party, however.
BJP leader Kailash Vijayavargiya, though, according to the NDTV report, came up with this valiant attempt to salvage face: “This is his personal opinion and it shows BJP is a democratic party.”
(With inputs from PTI)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)