Shtrughan Sinha Praises Party’s Fierce Rival Arvind Kejriwal
NEW DELHI: Two days before Delhi votes, the BJP’s Shatrughan Sinha has spoken somewhat off the script and praised his party’s number one rival, Arvind Kejriwal, describing him as a “good man.”
The outspoken Bollywood actor has said the prospects of Mr Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party appeared good. “Obviously, AAP’s strength can be seen, which is why I am being asked this question, but we also have a candidate who is very good,” Mr Sinha said, referring to the BJP’s chief ministerial candidate Kiran Bedi.
“The choice is between Kiran Bedi, a sterling human being, an upright officer, and Arvind Kejriwal, who is also a decent, sincere and good man,” said the 68-year-old actor-politician.
The BJP has spent the last lap of its campaign for Saturday’s Delhi polls rubbishing opinion polls that give the AAP a clear edge in the results to be announced on the 10th. The party also accuses AAP of betraying voters by allegedly accepting donations from dubious companies after offering a clean, incorruptible image as its biggest USP.
But once again, “Shotgun” Sinha has strayed from the official line, potentially embarrassing his party.Last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the A-list wedding of Mr Sinha’s son in Mumbai, making for photo-ops that belied recent history between the two men.
Mr Sinha’s was among the voices critical of the BJP’s decision to project Narendra Modi as the star of its 2014 election campaign. He also needled the party by describing one of Mr Modi’s biggest critics, Nitish Kumar, as ‘potential prime minister’ before doing a neat U-turn months later, calling Mr Modi his “action hero.”
