Patna: After the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) denied ticket from Patna Sahib, leader Shatrughan Sinha on Sunday said that the party could take away his seat but not the love of people for him.
Mr Sinha said, “In spite of repeated snubs, the only reason why I stayed in the BJP is because of my loyalty. I had vowed I will not move until I was told to. But now it is the time to make the move.”
Asserting his decision to contest from Patna Sahib, Mr Sinha said, “The BJP is fielding a dear friend of mine Ravi Shankar Prasad in my place from my constituency. But I will be contesting elections from my constituency itself. I thank people of Bihar for the love and support they offered for years, as I’ve always emerged victorious from there. But now we will know whom the public actually voted for, the party or me.”
Mr Sinha asserted that by the grace of God he would win from Patna. “You can take away my seat, but you can’t take away the love of my people from me. However, I have no ill-will towards Ravi Shankar Prasad. He is an old friend of mine and I wish him all the best. May the best man win,” he added.
While bidding adieu to the BJP, Mr Sinha said that the party high-command disrespected the senior leaders of the party. “Look at how they behaved with respected Yashwant Sinha; they virtually pushed him out of the party. L.K. Advani, who was sidelined for years, has retired from elections at the same time, when I’ve finally moved out of the BJP. The party could have shown some grace towards the great leader Mr Advani, by offering a seat to his daughter Pratibha or son Jayant from his electoral constituency.”
However, Mr Sinha ref-used to divulge the political party he plans to join. But it is being rumoured that he has been chosen by the Congress. “In a few days you will come to know. I want to thank all the leaders of Opposition, Mamta Bannerjee, Arvind Kejriwal and Laloo Yadav, for standing by me.”
