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Amid row over PM face, Shatrughan to talk poll plans with Congress workers today
Though Sinha visited the Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee headquarters at Sadaquat Ashram for the first time on April 12, he could not discuss much about his electoral strategy with senior party leaders for want of time.
For the first time since he joined the Congress on April 6 in Delhi in the presence of Rahul Gandhi, Shatrughan Sinha, the sitting MP from Patna Sahib, will be interacting with leaders and workers of the state Congress here on Sunday.
Though Sinha visited the Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee headquarters at Sadaquat Ashram for the first time on April 12, he could not discuss much about his electoral strategy with senior party leaders for want of time.
Sunday’s meeting assumes significance as it comes close on the heels of Sinha’s controversial statement declaring Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati in Lucknow as the prime minister material on Friday.
Sinha, however, has since clarified that his statements were blown out of proportions and he had said the two leaders had merit.
Meanwhile, clippings of Sinha’s reported statements triggered a war on the social media with NDA leaders accusing him of not being loyal to the party he was associated with. Bihar’s health minister Mangal Pandey had tweeted that Sinha began cheating the Congress for his wife, Poonam Sinha.
Sinha had campaigned for Poonam soon after she filed her nomination as an SP candidate from Lucknow against BJP stalwart and Union home minister Rajnath Singh. Sinha, however, claimed he was there after the permission from Congress chief Rahul Gandhi.
Samir Kumar Singh, working president of Bihar Pradesh Congress Committeee (BPCC), said all confusion would be cleared once Sinha began interacting with the party leaders and workers ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. “Sinha will win the seat hands down once the Congress workers and leaders embark on the campaigning for him,” said Singh.
A section of Congress leaders, however, said Sinha needed to take into confidence the party workers and cadres of other constituents of the Grand Alliance (GA) to drive his poll campaign. “BJP candidate and Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has already started his campaign, while GA leaders are still waiting for coordination with Sinha’s close aides,” they said.
