New Delhi: BJP lawmaker Shatrughan Sinha escalated his rebellion by meeting Congress leader Randeep Surjewala in Delhi, right in the middle of crucial assembly elections in his state Bihar.
Mr Surjewala, who visited Mr Sinha at his Delhi home yesterday, described it as a "social call," but it is unlikely to find favour with the BJP. Just before the Bihar elections, Mr Sinha had also met and praised Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who has joined hands with the Congress and Lalu Prasad to take on the BJP in the state.
The meeting with the Congress leader followed a series of controversial tweets from Mr Sinha, who acknowledged reports that the BJP has under-performed in the first two phases of the five-phased Bihar election.
"News that my party cud've done better in the 1st 2 phases upsets me. Hope it's untrue. Wishing BJP candidates all the best for the next phase," the Lok Sabha member from Patna Saheb said, also tweeting, "Time to stop approaching the issues on the ground like standard, half hearted, 5 star press meets."
In more criticism for what he called the BJP's "local dictatorial leaders in Bihar," the actor-turned-politician accused them of "creating a mess and an undesirable situation."
"A situation that led our star campaigner PM to cancel his Bihar rallies at the last minute... sending a negative message???" tweeted Mr Sinha, who had reportedly hoped to be considered by his party for its candidate for Bihar chief minister and is deeply disgruntled at being sidelined instead.
Asked to comment on Mr Sinha's tweets, BJP president Amit Shah quipped to reporters in Patna today, "If he does not tweet what will you show or write?"
But the BJP chief was called upon to emphasise that his party is in fact doing well in the ongoing elections and also state that there was "no change" in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's campaign schedule. "The leader of the election campaign comes only in the end. There is a big gap in the elections, there are so many festivals, no rallies have been curtailed," he said.
Mr Surjewala, who visited Mr Sinha at his Delhi home yesterday, described it as a "social call," but it is unlikely to find favour with the BJP. Just before the Bihar elections, Mr Sinha had also met and praised Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who has joined hands with the Congress and Lalu Prasad to take on the BJP in the state.
The meeting with the Congress leader followed a series of controversial tweets from Mr Sinha, who acknowledged reports that the BJP has under-performed in the first two phases of the five-phased Bihar election.
In more criticism for what he called the BJP's "local dictatorial leaders in Bihar," the actor-turned-politician accused them of "creating a mess and an undesirable situation."
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Asked to comment on Mr Sinha's tweets, BJP president Amit Shah quipped to reporters in Patna today, "If he does not tweet what will you show or write?"
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