‘Modi is the only PM in any democracy in the world who hasn’t done a press conference in 10 years’: Shatrughan Sinha

Veteran politician, Bollywood star and Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader, Shatrughan Sinha, 77, had won from the Asansol parliamentary constituency in a bypoll in 2022 by over 3 lakh votes. He is again contesting on his party’s ticket from the Asansol seat, which is going to polls in the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha polls on May 13. He is pitted against senior BJP leader S S Ahluwalia. In an interview with The Indian Express, Shatrughan speaks on various issues ranging from the BJP’s campaign to his prospects. Excerpts:

Last time, you won Asansol Lok Sabha in a bypoll. How challenging is this election, when you are contesting to retain the seat?

Any election has to be taken seriously. Last time, by the grace of God and under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee — who seems to be the most powerful, popular and important leader in the country — we recorded the TMC’s first victory in Asansol, that too by a record margin of over 3 lakh votes. After that, I have been coming here regularly, at least twice a month, attending all festivals like Durga Puja, Kali Puja, Chhath Puja, Eid, etc. Ek pehchan ban gayi hai (I have become familiar with the constituency), and I hope we’ll break our previous victory margin.

Your opponent S S Ahluwalia is new here, but has 32-year experience as a parliamentarian…

They had earlier fielded someone else (Bhojpuri singer and actor Pawan Singh), but he withdrew, or was forced to withdraw his nomination. I don’t want to comment on this, as it is their party’s internal affair. But S S Ahluwalia is a senior, experienced man and I always consider him to be a gentleman with a good sense of humour. However, after competing from Darjeeling, he ran away and came to Bardhaman-Durgapur, where he scraped through in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. He has been sent to Asansol at the last moment, that too against someone who has no corruption allegations and has done all his work with honesty and transparency. But Ahluwalia has to first answer why he has been shifting seats for the last 10 years. If the BJP has dhan shakti (money power), then Mamata Banerjee has jan shakti (people’s power).

What is your assessment of the BJP-led Central government?

I wish it had done something beyond shoot-and-scoot. Modi is the only PM in any democracy in the world who has not done a press conference in the last 10 years. Even former US President Donald Trump, who was going through a very lean phase during the Covid-19 pandemic, regularly interacted with the media. The PM always shifts his goal posts. There is no discussion on price rise, inflation, unemployment, farmers’ distress, etc. All his guarantees have failed. Now he is coming up with new guarantees. He has lost all credibility.

BJP is highlighting issues like Ram Mandir, scrapping of Article 370 and implementation of CAA as achievements…

There is a saying that you can’t fool all the people all the time. Everyone believes in Ram. It is a matter of personal belief and devotion. But the PM is blowing his own trumpet over the issue, to encash people’s sentiments and turn it into votes. He is indulging in appeasement politics but pointing fingers at others. He has run the country as a matter of convenience. But today, people want answers.

Over the last few years, many corruption allegations, like the recruitment scam, have been made against the Mamata Banerjee government. How do you respond to such charges as a sitting MP?

So far these are just allegations, and investigations are on. Nothing has been proved. But the BJP is not talking about the biggest corruption of all, the electoral bond scam, in exposing which The Indian Express played a leading role. This is one of the world’s biggest scams but BJP leaders and spokespersons are silent on it. I am not trying to justify one corruption charge with another. But the BJP must address the elephant in the room first.

What was your reaction to the Sandeshkhali incident?

They said a lot of things on Sandeshkhali, but Abhishek Banerjee (TMC national general secretary) has now pulled the cat out of the bag. A sting operation showed how BJP used money to concoct the Sandeshkhali allegations. Surprisingly, BJP leaders are silent on the Prajwal Revanna sex abuse case.

BJP’s slogan is ‘Iss baar 400 paar’. Can NDA cross the mark?

In the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections, the BJP said “Iss baar 200 paar (This time, over 200 seats)”. But it was Mamata Banerjee’s TMC that crossed the 200 mark, while the BJP’s tally stopped at 77. They said similar things about the Karnataka and Delhi Assembly elections, but failed to achieve their targets. No matter how much they try, the BJP and NDA won’t win more than 150-175 seats this time.

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