Like Advani, Shatrughan's BJP poll stint sees forced end

Patna: Rebel BJP MP from Patna Sahib Constituency Shatrughan Sinha will contest the coming Lok Sabha elections on Congress ticket, senior Congress leaders announced in Patna, a development that do not come as a surprise to many due to his visible drift away from the BJP over the past few years and the his recent praise for Rahul Gandhi.

The party swap by Shotgun comes few days after BJP dropped him and gave a ticket to Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. Sources said Mr Sinha has been trying to get closer to RJD – Congress-led grand alliance after he was sidelined in the BJP.  

Shatrughan Sinha, who had won 2009 and 2014 Lok Sabha elections on BJP ticket from Patna Sahib Seat, has been at loggerheads with the party after he was not inducted into the cabinet.

On a number of occasions earlier Mr. Sinha had defied Prime Minister Narendra Modi and criticized demonetization and GST rollout – two major decisions of Modi government in 2016 and 2017.

He has also been vocal about his support to RJD Chief Lalu Yadav despite mounting corruption cases and conviction in fodder scam which didn’t go down well with the BJP leadership, party leaders said in Patna on Saturday.

The two - time Lok Sabha MP from Patna Sahib has also openly praised Congress President Rahul Gandhi number of times earlier.

According to political analysts here, the Patna Sahib constituency has traditionally seen a fight between BJP and Congress. In 2014 Shatrughan Sinha had won the elections by defeating Congress nominee Kunal Singh, a veteran Bhojpuri film actor by a record margin of 2,65,805 votes.

He had bagged 4, 85,905 votes while Kunal Singh, a Congress nominee had secured 2, 20,100 votes.

BJP leaders said that people were upset with Shatrughan Sinha due to his absence from Patna Sahib Constituency after winning 2009 elections. He, however, managed to overcome public anger and won 2014 Lok Sabha elections by a record margin due to massive Modi wave in the country.

“Everyone knows that despite public anger Shatrughan Sinha managed to retain his Patna Sahib seat during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections due to massive Modi wave in the country. Be sure that Ravi Shankar Prasad is going to win elections this time with record margin while his rival Shatrughan Sinha will be politically silenced permanently”, BJP spokesperson Nikhil Anand told this newspaper.  

Patna Sahib is also seen as a traditional Kayastha seat where the caste has around 25 per cent voter base.

Observers are of the opinion that the contest in Patna Sahib Constituency is likely to get interesting as Ravi Shankar Prasad will be facing two opponents – Shatrughan Sinha who is a sitting MP and R.K. Sinha who is a strong BJP leader with massive support from Akhil Bharatiya Kayastha Mahasabha.   

Sources said that the BJP had initially shortlisted Mr. Sinha’s name but after days of discussions Ravi Shankar Prasad was included in the list.

After BJP declared candidates last week one of the office bearers of Akhil Bharatiya Kayastha Community said that “only RK Sinha was acceptable as a BJP candidate”.  

A source in the BJP said, “It is a fact that only Mr. RK Sinha can replace Shatrughan Sinha in Patna Sahib because he has a massive following in the Kayastha community”.