Shatrughan Sinha to join Congress on Thursday: Sources

NEW DELHI: Rebel BJP leader and Patna Sahib MP Shatrughan Sinha will join the Congress party on Thursday, sources said on Tuesday. The actor-turned-politician will join the grand old party in the presence of its president Rahul Gandhi in the national capital. Sinha will join the Congress party at 11 am on Thursday and address a press conference later in the evening at the party headquarters, sources said. This comes after the BJP replaced Sinha, who has been critical of the party's top leadership on several occasions in the past, with its senior leader and Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad from the prestigious Patna Sahib Parliamentary constituency in Bihar. Speculation has gained ground that Sinha, serving his second consecutive term, will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from Patna Sahib on a Congress ticket. The BJP is contesting from 17 of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar as part of the NDA. In the opposition's 'Mahagathbandhan', the Congress is fighting on nine seats. Earlier on Tuesday, Sinha showered praise on Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, calling him the "master of situation" and his proposed minimum income guarantee scheme--'NYAY'a "masterstroke". He also slammed the BJP for doubting the feasibility of the proposed scheme. and drew a phrase from a yesteryear chartbuster years to make his point 'ap kare to raasleela baki kare to character dheela'.

It's a masterstroke by the 'master of situation', @RahulGandhi - declaring #MinimumIncomeGuarantee scheme. It has rattled our people so much that some of our prominent people had to rush for a press conference, calling the whole declaration/ announcement "chhal kapat".

— Shatrughan Sinha (@ShatruganSinha) March 26, 2019

He said he would like to know from BJP leaders that when they announced various "jumlas" about Rs 15 lakh in the banks accounts of every individual, farm loan waiver and subsidies to farmers, and more than two crore jobs for the youth, was that fair. Sinha has adopted a belligerent approach towards the BJP criticising it over a range of issues since the 2015 Bihar Assembly election. According to sources, he also played a major role in bringing the parties of the 'Mahagathbandhan' together after there appeared a disagreement among them on the issue of seat-sharing. Earlier in the month, Sinha had said he will not change his constituency in the coming Lok Sabha election "whatever the situation", making clear he would contest again from his seat irrespective of the party decision. "Situation kuch bhi ho, location wahi hogi (Whatever the situation, location would be same)," Sinha said. He has often taken a stance at variance with the official party line, including on demonetisation and Goods and Services Tax, and shared the stage with opposition leaders at an anti-BJP rally in Kolkata in January, where he was projected as the "star speaker". On a recent visit to Lucknow, he had held a meeting with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, giving rise to speculation his wife Poonam Sinha may enter active politics from the Uttar Pradesh capital, currently represented in Lok Sabha by Home Minister Rajnath Singh.