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‘To save democracy’: Shatrughan Sinha’s reason for attending Mamata’s mega opposition rally
The rally, which brought together leaders of 22 opposition parties, from National Conference’s Farooq Abdullah to the Dravida Munetra Kazhagam’s M K Stalin, and Nationalist Congress Party’s Sharad Pawar to Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav, had resolved to oust the Narendra Modi government.
Rebel BJP leader Shatrughan Sinha, who seems set to face action from the party for his participation at the mega opposition rally called by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata, on Sunday gave his reason for attending and attacking the BJP and its top leaders in his speech.
The actor-turned-politician, who had sought to contrast the “lokshahi” (democracy) in the party and the government under then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his deputy, L K Advani with the “tanashahi” (dictatorship) under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah now, also hit out at the Prime Minister over demonetisation, the Goods and Services Tax and the Rafale deal. He also called for a new leadership at the Centre.
On Sunday,Sinha carried forward his attack on Twitter.
“What an amazing gathering and what a mammoth audience that came together in Bengal in lakhs to listen to and support this spontaneous show of solidarity in favour of a change parivartan!” he tweeted.
The rally, which brought together leaders of 22 opposition parties, from National Conference’s Farooq Abdullah to the Dravida Munetra Kazhagam’s M K Stalin, and Nationalist Congress Party’s Sharad Pawar to Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav, had resolved to oust the Narendra Modi government which has “passed its expiry date”.
And Sinha, praising Banerjee for hosting the meet, set out his reasons for being there.
“Kudos to our sister, the great lady of Bengal, the fiery Mamata di, who needs to be roundly complimented for bringing together one of the largest congregations of the strongest and most influential political minds and leaders from all corners of the country on the same stage under a common cause of saving the Indian democracy from being ruined,” he said in a series of tweets.
Lauding the “phenomenal strength of unity” at the rally, Sinha said the gathering was “a wake up call for the Govt at the centre in many ways. All leaders of the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ were united & focused as they all had one agenda - “Free India of Arrogance and Dictatorial Governance”.”
He also said that he had been present as the representative of Rashtra Manch, set by former union minister Yashwant Sinha who has announced his disassociation with the BJP.
While BJP national spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy had said the party has taken “cognizance” of Sinha’s presence at the opposition meet, party general secretary Ram Madhav on Sunday again dismissed the any effect of the gathering, alleging “all corrupt political families have ganged up against Prime Minister Narendra Modi”.
Addressing media persons during his visit to Jammu, Madhav said: “In the rally at Kolkata, they accepted that they have come together but do not have any plan.”
