Congress a party of Muhammad Ali Jinnah: Shatrughan Sinha
CHHINDWARA (MP): Actor-turned politician Shatrughan Sinha is creating fuss with his remarks from the day he has left Bharatiya Janata Party and joined Congress. Sinha, while praising his new party on Friday, invoked Pakistan founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah along with Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel and Jawaharlal Nehru.
“The Congress family, from Mahatma Gandhi to Sardar Patel to Mohammad Ali Jinnah to Jawaharlal Nehru to Indira Gandhi to Rajiv Gandhi to Rahul Gandhi to Netaji Subhash Chnadra Bose. It is their party. They had the most important role in development and freedom of the country. This is the reason why I have come here (in Congress),” Mr Sinha said in Hindi at a rally in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhindwara.
Sinha said, Mohammad Ali Jinnah had role to play in independence and development in the country. The statement was made while Sinha was addressing a public meeting in Sausar in Madhya Pradesh’s Chindwara.
He lauded the party and Jawaharlal Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel. At the same time, he also praised Jinnah. He said, “From Sardar Patel to Nehru, from Mahatma Gandhi to Jinnah, from Indira Gandhi to Rahul Gandhi, all have had a role to play in nation’s independence and development. That is why I joined Congress party”.
Madhya Pardesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath was sharing the stage with Sinha. Kamal Nath took on former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Modi. Kamal Nath said, “We have waved off the loans of 21 lakh farmers”. He also said that Shivraj Singh was screaming that loans have not been waved off. Shivraj has lied to you for 15 years. I have promised that as soon as Lok Sabha elections are over, farmer loans will be waved off”.
Reacting to Mr Sinha’s remarks, the Congress said he must “explain”. “Shatrughan Sinha, whatever his views are, he must explain. But a few days ago, he was part of BJP. So let the BJP explain why he was a part of the BJP for so many years. I don’t have to explain the statement of every member(Congress). I can only speak for the party’s official position,” senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said.
Mr Sinha clarified on Saturday, saying, “Whatever I said yesterday was a slip of tongue. I wanted to say Maulana Azad but uttered Muhammad Ali Jinnah.” Shatrughan Sinha, 72, was in Madhya Pradesh to campaign for Chief Minister Kamal Nath’s son Nakul Nath, who is contesting the national election from the Chhindwara parliamentary constituency.
Soon after joining the Congress, Mr Sinha had ruffled many feathers within the party when he recently campaigned for his wife Poonam who is contesting from Lucknow on a Samajwadi Party ticket, though the Congress has also fielded its candidate from there.
His recent praise for Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati and Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav, calling them “Prime Minister material”, too drew censure from a section of Congress leaders who found it objectionable after the gathbandhan or the grand alliance left the Congress out of the equation. Mr Sinha, while in the BJP, was openly critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah.
In an association that had been souring for years, the proverbial last straw was the BJP snubbing him and naming a different candidate, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, for his Patna Sahib constituency in Bihar where he has been the lawmaker for a decade.(With Inputs from Agency).
