As the BJP announced Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad’s candidature from the Patna Sahib constituency, all hell broke loose for the sitting MP from the constituency, Shatrughan Sinha who couldn’t hide his frustration. Known for his defiance against the BJP and its leadership who openly takes part in opposition rallies, Sinha had an unceremonious meltdown on Twitter following the party’s decision to ignore his candidature from Patna Sahib Lok Sabha seat.
https://twitter.com/ShatruganSinha/status/1109426850109911040?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Starting with the Rafale jibe against PM Modi, feigning concern Sinha asserted that ‘corrective measures’ should be initiated to salvage party from the inevitable fate. In all likelihood, Sinha considers one of the first measures to be adopted to restore the party’s glory is by rolling back Prasad’s Patna Sahib candidature and declaring himself from the same constituency.
Following this, in a bid to lend credence to his breakdown, Sinha veers towards the issue of erstwhile BJP stalwarts being supposedly cornered by the current BJP leadership. Sinha mentions how L.K Advani had been disgracefully booted out and how BJP president Amit Shah has purposefully chosen Gandhinagar constituency to cock a snook at the BJP veteran.
https://twitter.com/ShatruganSinha/status/1109431230905237505?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
It is notable to mention that Shatrughan Sinha has often defied party guidelines and frequented many opposition and Mahagathbandhan rallies. Even the rebel BJP leaders he takes refuge in while attacking PM Modi- Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie have extended their solidarity with the opposition parties and made mendacious remarks against the central government in their rallies. Sinha had also seemed to echo Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Chowkidar Chor Hai’ jibe against Prime Minister Modi and spoken against the central government in the rallies organised by the opposition parties.
Despite this apparent betrayal, it seems that Sinha had high expectations that the BJP will continue to humour his wishes and act in conformity with his worldview. Most people were expecting him to be expelled from the party and it was a foregone conclusion that he will get a ticket from BJP in 2019 Lok Sabha election given his anti-party activities, but Sinha himself thought otherwise. Citing Newton’s third law- Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, Sinha claims that he is not amongst those taking things lying down and is fully capable of ‘paying back’.
https://twitter.com/ShatruganSinha/status/1109431235732893698?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Now the reports are trickling in that Shatrughan Sinha might be joining the Congress party and may contest the elections from the Patna Sahib constituency on a Congress ticket. After repeatedly embarrassing BJP on countless occasions, and singing paeans to Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Shatrughan Sinha is finally set to join the party for which he had been campaigning from last 3 years despite being in the BJP. If these reports are indeed true, the resentment Sinha had expressed on Twitter since yesterday stands null and void. As it proves that the real concern for him was not the purported disgrace meted out to the stalwarts but his diminishing relevance in the current polity.