New Delhi: The second Grand Alliance between Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav is a signal to the BJP to stay "khamosh", actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha told NDTV today, recalling his iconic dialogue. Mr Sinha, who is now with the Trinamool Congress, declared that the BJP has no cause for complaint as Nitish Kumar has only repeated what they have done in multiple states, including Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
Asked how the people feel about the recent events -- given the BJP claim that Mr Kumar has betrayed their mandate -- Mr Sinha said, "By and large the people are very happy".
"In fact, they are saying that the BJP has been doing it for years. 'As you sow, so shall you reap'. They have done it in Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Maharashtra through their money power... Now they got a taste of their own medicine. Nitish Kumar paid them back in their own coin," he told NDTV in an exclusive interview.
The BJP, he said, is expressly giving out the message that there will be no opposition.
"They are saying 'Only we will be there'. But how can only you be there? This is a democracy. There is the opposition, there are the regional parties," Mr Sinha pointed out. This is why the opposition is coming together he said, pointing at the new Grand Alliance, which has seven parties and an Independent.
Ahead of ending the alliance, Mr Kumar's Janata Dal United had cited BJP chief JP Nadda's comment that "Only the BJP will remain, regional parties will disappear". It only went to confirm Mr Kumar's suspicion that the BJP was out to split the JD(U) and install a pliant Chief Minister, the way they did in Maharashtra, sources had said.
Further supporting Mr Kumar's decision to break the alliance with the BJP, Shatrughan Sinha said the party ruling at the Centre has not met any promise to him. They have not given him the Rs 1,76,000 crore special package or allow Bihar any special status. The Centre did nothing for Nitish Kumar," he said..