Shatrughan Sinha
Prashant Kishor's key role in Shatrughan Sinha's crossover to Trinamool Congress: Report
Shatrughan Sinha, whose crossover to Trinamool Congress was revealed after he was named the party's candidate for the by-poll to the Asansol Lok Sabha seat, said Thursday that poll strategist Prashant Kishor played a crucial role in bringing him to Mamata Banerjee's party.
"It was a big honour and opportunity for me to join Mamata Banerjee. Her party wanted me, she tweeted that I should be in the Trinamool and fight from the Asansol parliamentary seat. My elder brother Yashwant Sinha and Prashant Kishor played a very crucial role," Shatrughan Sinha told NDTV.
"Prashant Kishor reached out to me. We had a hearty chat, a long chat and discussed so many issues. He wanted me to come to the Trinamool."
Prashant Kishor started working for Mamata Banerjee before 2021 Assembly polls at a time when BJP had sharpened its attack against the TMC in West Bengal, emerging as a massive threat to the ruling party in the state.
According to the report, Kishor is also trying to build up support for Mamata Banerjee as the possible pivot of an opposition coalition to take on the BJP in the 2024 national election.
Asked whether he saw Mamata Banerjee as a Prime Ministerial candidate, Sinha said: "I believe Mamata Banerjee is certainly fit to be the leader of the nation. She is a mass leader in the true sense. She's the only leader who commands respect. She has capability and capacity. She is tried, tested and successful. She comes from Bengal, but so what? Our Prime Minister is from Gujarat."
Sinha quit the BJP and joined Congress just before the 2019 election.
The report said he refused to elaborate on why he changed parties again.
Despite his respect for Congress and "great regard" for Sonia Gandhi, Sinha said he left Congress for people he wouldn't talk about.
"I don't want to criticise the Congress at its time of crisis. At the moment, I won't talk about the Congress at all," he added.
Asked why he agreed to contest polls from Bengal's Asansol though he is a Bihar leader, he said: "I am an all-India figure apart from being a Bihari babu. What would you tell Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he contests from Varanasi? He doesn't even know the Varanasi dialect. At least I know Bengali."
He also insisted that Trinamool is his last destination in his political career.
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