It is his ‘dil ki baat’ that makes him stand out among politicians, says BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha, but admits emotions often overtake him and that “proves costly”.
“Sometimes I get emotional and then I realise I am not cut out for this (politics). What makes me stand out is that I don’t talk ‘Mann ki Baat’, that is done by someone else (Prime Minister Narendra Modi). I do ‘dil ki baat’ (talk from the heart). I speak what I feel and at times emotions prove costly,” Sinha said at the Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival (AKLF).
Sinha, who served as a Cabinet minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, said there was a time when he thought politics will not work for him and wanted to quit.
“Then I went to my fiend philosopher and guide L K Advani. I told him that it won’t work, especially in BJP,” he said, adding he was then reminded of Mahatma Gandhi’s saying that “first they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, and then you win.”
The disgruntled BJP leader, who was out of action during the recent Bihar assembly polls, said being “practical and positive” he tries to maintain a balance in life.
“When I go home I stay ‘khamosh’ (silent) before my wife, but in politics I make others fall silent,” he said, while releasing his biography ‘Anything But Khamosh: The Shatrughan Sinha Biography’ by Bharathi S Pradhan.
“Many people ask me at which stage I am now. I tell them – in between the last two,” Sinha said.
He maintains that his biggest political regret has been contesting election against Bollywod star Rajesh Khanna.
“That was because I could not say no to Advaniji,” he said, referring to the 1991 Delhi bypoll in which he stood against Khanna, who was contesting on a Congress ticket.
Speaking about the BJP’s recent defeat in Bihar assembly elections, Sinha said only some people and not the whole party are to be blamed for the debacle.
“I told them not to say ‘jungle raj’ prevails in Bihar. After all, other parties also have their well-wishers and supporters and it makes them feel as if you are calling them ‘Junglee’. I could see the writing on the wall. I hoped that good sense would prevail among them,” Sinha said.
To a question from the audience, the Patna Sahib MP admitted that being straightforward in life brings problems to politicians.
