Shatrughan Sinha joins Congress, says 'BJP has become one-man show and two-man army'

NEW DELHI: Actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha joined the Congress on Saturday in the presence of its senior leaders at the party headquarters in the national capital.

In a press conference in the national capital Sinha, without taking any names, said that the BJP has become one-man show and two-man army. Sinha who has been a vocal critic of the NDA government launched a scathing attack on BJP.

"When I tried to explain to them (BJP) that the country is bigger than a party and a party is bigger than an individual. When I said it, I was branded as a rebel. Which prompted me to say 'if speaking truth is a rebellion then yes, I am a rebel'," Sinha said.

During his induction, in a major slip of tongue, Shatrughan Sinha ended up referring to Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil as "backbone of BJP".

"Shaktisinh Gohil ji (Bihar Congress In-charge) has been backbone of BJP in Bihar and in Gujarat," Sinha's slip of tongue prompted the other Congress leaders to intervene and correct him.


After joining the Congress, Sinha said its president Rahul Gandhi is a "tried, tested and successful dynamic leader, who is the face of the nation and its future".

He hit out at the BJP leadership, alleging there's no place left for dialogue in the BJP anymore and the party's top brass "doesn't value its own people and views opponents as their enemies".

Party veterans are not being looked after in the BJP and are being sent to 'Margdarshak Mandal, he alleged.

"In the BJP, democracy has slowly and surely turned into dictatorship. The party has become a one-man show and a two-men army," Sinha alleged.

In an apparent reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said, "People have understood your bluff and hollow promises. You have been exposed."

He also said the country would have transformed if the money spent by the BJP's on its publicity campaigns was spent on development.

Lauding the Congress' proposed NYAY scheme, he said such a proposal has never been unveiled in the country.

On being questioned if his wife Poonam Sinha will contest against home minister Rajnath Singh from Lucknow, Sinha said that anything can happen. "Kuch bhi ho sakta hai,"he told reporters.

He had earlier tweeted: "It's with a heavy heart and immense pain that I finally bid adieu to my old party, for reasons best known to all of us, on April 6, which also happens to be the Sansthapna Diwas (Foundation Day) of the BJP.

"I don't hold any ill will for our people as they were like my family and I was groomed in this party with the guidance and blessings of the stalwarts like Bharat Ratna Nanaji Deshmukh, late and great PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee and of course, our friend philosopher, ultimate leader, guru and guide L.K. Advani."

Sinha represents Bihar's Patna Sahib seat in the Lok Sabha. He is all set to take on the BJP's Ravi Shankar Prasad in the constituency.