Centre Must Come Out With Details Of Air Strikes: Shatrughan Sinha

Disgruntled BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha on Thursday supported demand that the Centre come out with the details of the air strikes in Pakistan's Balakot, including the number of terrorists killed, and described as "tamasha" (theatric) claims about casualties by different leaders of the party.

The Patna Sahib MP also said that he had great respect for veteran Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, who has drawn flak for calling the Pulwama terror attack a "durghatna" (or an accident), and said the former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister wanted to say something but could not choose his words wisely.

"I am of the firm opinion that all central ministers/responsible persons should speak in one voice on air strikes and avoid confusing statements. This is the least we can do to honour our brave armed forces," wrote the actor-turned-politician on his official twitter handle.

However, he also shared the link of a local news portal with which he had a detailed conversation on the issue.

He was quoted therein as having said BJP's Radha Mohan Singh and Yogi Adityanath are saying 400 terrorists were killed. "On different channels, Raag Darbaris (court jesters) of the government are saying 300 have been killed.. Somebody else says 500 have been killed. What is this tamasha?

"If the Centre comes on record on the issue, I think it would only boost the morale of the public and also bring laurels to the government," he was quoted as saying.

Asked about Digvijaya Singh's remark, Mr Sinha said, "I have great respect for him. He is a very mature leader. I do not want to get drawn into a debate over semantics. He wanted to say something but, apparently, could not choose his words wisely."

Speculations have been rife about the future political move of Mr Sinha, who has been critical of his own government. He has also been seen sharing stage with opposition leaders on several occasions.

Recently, when he praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the launch of Patna Metro Rail project, it drew flak from the state BJP president Nityanand Rai, who made it clear a "U-turn" would not guarantee him a ticket in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Mr Sinha has implied that he would seek re-election from Patna Sahib for the third consecutive term even if he were to contest as a candidate of some other political party.