Janta Dal (U) B-team of BJP: Shotgun

Patna: BJP MP from Patna Sahib, Shatrughan Sinha, on Monday created ripples in political circles by raising questions on the JDU’s decision to contest the Karnataka elections.

The MP, fondly called Shotgun, called the JDU a B-team of the BJP and said it ended up helping the BJP in Karnataka. An irked JDU questioned Shotgun’s integrity, one leader even calling him a person who lacked “political morality”.

The JDU contested 28 seats in Karnataka but could not win even one. The party garnered 41,638 votes in 28 Assembly seats, the highest being 16,640 votes in Mayakonda. In two constituencies, the JDU got double-digit votes.

Shotgun tweeted on Monday: “Is it true that under my friend Nitish Kumar’s subterfuge, JDU played to BJP tune, put up candidates in K’natka & got 500-1000 votes in many places? Cong lost over a dozen seats with lesser margin. BJP B-team wasn’t JDS! As we say in Bihar, it was its Judooah/ JDU! #Pinchofsalt”

JDU secretary general K.C. Tyagi said: “Shatrughan Sinha should first make his stand clear. He should come out of confusion. As far as our party is concerned, we are working for strengthening our party and being part of NDA we also work to strengthen the coalition.” JDU spokesperson Neeraj Kumar said Shatrughan lacked “political morality”.

Talking to The Telegraph from Punjab, Shotgun said: “I am not attacking Nitish Kumar. I believe some of his advisors gave him wrong feedback for which JDU suffered loss of face in Karnataka.” He asked who had advised Nitish to contest the Karnataka polls.

“He is an intelligent and sharp mind and I firmly believe it was not his idea to contest the election in Karnataka.”

Tyagi, however, said that while the JDU was working towards strengthening the NDA, Shatrughan was not being honest to his party. “If he is so concerned about the Congress, he should have worked hard to ensure its victory in the elections,” Tyagi said.

Courtesy: The Telegraph