This Article is From Oct 22, 2013

New entry in Narendra Modi fan club: one-time detractor Shotgun

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File photo of Shatrughan Sinha

Patna: Shatrughan Sinha, for long the Agent Provocateur of the BJP, appears to have been tamed.

Mr Sinha today said that nobody can stop his party's prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, from landing the job.

In June, the 67-year-old Bollywood star joined BJP veteran LK Advani in boycotting the BJP's conclave in Goa where the party announced that Mr Modi would be in charge of its campaign for the national election, a major promotion for the four-time chief minister of Gujarat.

Mr Advani's sulk was ignored once again when the BJP in September picked Mr Modi as its presumptive prime minister.

Mr Sinha represents the constituency of Patna Sahib in Pata in the Lok Sabha.

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Mr Modi will address a rally in Patna on October 27, being designed as a challenge to Nitish Kumar, the Chief Minister of Bihar, who ended a 17-year alliance with the BJP in August over Mr Modi's ascension to the national stage.

For years, Mr Modi was banned from campaigning in Bihar by Mr Kumar, who is among those who accuse the Gujarat chief minister of being a divisive leader and also of not doing enough to prevent the Gujarat riots of 2002, in which hundreds of Muslims were killed under his watch.

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In Bihar, Mr Kumar counts on the support of Muslim voters and did not want to be seen on the same stage as Mr Modi as their parties fought elections together. 

The JD(U)-BJP alliance was elected in Bihar in November 2005 and then returned to power in 2010

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Post the nasty split with Mr Kumar, the BJP reprimanded Mr Sinha for offering lavish praise for Mr Kumar, describing him as a leader suitable to be prime minister.



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