Lok Sabha MP Shatrughan Sinha on Thursday ended speculation over his joining the Congress after meeting party president Rahul Gandhi and both sides announced that the BJP rebel will induct himself in Congress next week. Sources said that the joining which was to happen on Thursday itself had to be delayed due to revival of the tension within the RJD and Congress in the Bihar mahagathbandhan.
After meeting Rahul Gandhi, Sinha announced he will join the Congress. “Joining will happen soon, we will give you a positive news during Navaratri. I will join Congress now,” Sinha said talking to media later. AICC incharge of Bihar Shaktisinh Gohil tweeted that Sinha will join the party on April 6.
Sources said that Sinha’s joining was marred by the immediate friction between the two major grand alliance partners while RJD complaining that Sinha could have been even RJD’s bet. Sinha, Congress and RJD finally decided to abort the move to join and buy peace for sometime.
“RJD was said to be keen on having Sinha as its candidate from Patna Sahib constituency. Sinha and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad share a cordial relation. But the Congress has always contested the Patna Sahib seat whenever it allied with the RJD in Bihar.
So, the party wanted to field Sinha on its own symbol. This tug-of-war had apparently caused the delay in decision of Sinha joining the grand old party,” said a senior Congress leader.
Sinha is a two-time sitting BJP MP from Patna Lok Sabha seat and has been critical of the Narendra Modi Government for past couple of years. He has been sidelined in the BJP, which replaced him with Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad as the Lok Sabha candidate from Patna Sahib constituency.
On Wednesday, Bihar Congress election campaign committee chairman Akhilesh Prasad Singh had said that Shatrughan Sinha would join the party “in New Delhi on March 28 at 11.30 am”. Singh had also announced that Sinha will be the Congress candidate from Patna Sahib.
On his part, Sinha praised Rahul Gandhi after he promised to implement a minimum income guarantee scheme if the Congress is voted to power in the Lok Sabha polls.
