Janjivan Bureau / New Delhi/Patna : A Twitter war erupted between actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha and his BJP party colleague Sushil Kumar Modi on Monday when the former tweeted in favour of RJD chief Lalu Prasad and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal saying “enough of negative politics and mudslinging”. Bihar dy chief minister Tejaswi Yadav supported Shatrughan and twit Shatru ko nicha dikhane wala Sushil kaisai.
Modi, responding to Sinha’s tweet, demanded that the “enemies of the party” (Sinha) must be “removed” at the earliest.
Sinha also said he hoped and wished that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party President Amit Shah take “notice of such unparliamentary utterances of some of our party people – that too against a senior party colleague & a staunch party loyalist”.
In reaction, Sinha accused Sushil Modi for the party’s loss in the 2015 Bihar assembly polls saying that “those responsible for party’s debacle are crying hoarse”.
“Some people who are wholly and solely responsible for our party’s debacle in Bihar are today crying hoarse, hoping to regain their lost image at the cost of some senior and popular colleagues who have an impeccable image,” Sinha said taking a jibe at the former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister.
He also said that positive criticism shouldn’t be taken as a rebellion.
“Positive and constructive criticism should not be taken as rebellion. Instead, it should ignite a debate within the party,” he said in another tweet.
“Wouldn’t like to comment on utterances out of frustration and desperation made against me by some vested interests and spoilers of inner party democracy,” Sinha, BJP MP from Patna Sahib, said.
He also said that sycophants criticise for the sake of criticism and get low and personal. “I pray that God should spare them for they know not what they speak,” he said.
Earlier, backing the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor, Sinha said, “Individually I hold all political leaders, especially Kejriwal, in high esteem for their credibility, struggle and commitment towards society.”
The BJP leader’s remarks came at a crucial time when the party has been accusing both the leaders of being involved in corruption cases.
Former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Modi has been accusing Lalu Prasad and his children – Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, Health Minister Tej Pratap Yadav and Rajya Sabha MP Misa Bharti – of being involved in corrupt land deals.
Kejriwal has been accused of being involved in corrupt practices by suspended AAP legislator Kapil Mishra.
Sinha, taking a dig at his own party the BJP, said: “Our BJP surely believes in honesty and transparency, which seldom go together, but must go together. An allegation is only that unless proved.”
Sinha, who represents the Patna Sahib constituency in the Lok Sabha also said that it was “high time to substantiate your claims.. or pack up! Can’t just keep feeding media with one night stories and sensationalising. Enough is enough”.
Slamming Sinha, Modi said that it was not necessary to believe the actor and the party must remove such “traitors”.
“It is not necessary to believe the man who is famous. The traitors must be sent out immediately,” Modi tweeted.
“When Nitish (Kumar) didn’t come out in support of Lalu (Prasad), in his support the enemies of BJP has jumped now,” Modi said.
Sinha has been criticisng the central government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi since the 2015 Bihar Assembly elections after he was sidelined in the party.
He has backed Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Kejriwal on several occasions.
