Shatrughan Sinha's supporters peeved, BJP MLAs angry over candidates

Absence of name of actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha as BJP candidate from Patna Saheb seat on Friday caused heartburn among his supporters even as a large number of party legislators are angry over selection of "turncoats".

Former MLA from Bakhtiyarpur Binod Yadav and General Secretary of state BJP Scheduled Caste cell Sanjay Ram said a large number of people were questioning them about the absence of Sinha's name among the 25 candidates announced on Thursday.

They said the party would suffer if the actor-turned politician was not renominated from Patna Saheb seat in the capital.

Absence of Shatrughan Sinha's name, popularly known as "Bihari Babu" has set off questions if he has been "punished" for opening mouth against Narendra Modi in the past.

Apart from anxiety among supporters of the cinestar, many BJP legislators are angry over selection of "turncoats."

BJP MLA from Muzaffarpur Suresh Sharma, credited for the successful conduct of Narendra Modi's rally there on March 3, said he would resign from the post of state election management committee over ticket to Ajay Nishad, whose father Capt Jainarayan Nishad defected from JD-U to BJP recently.

“BJP has been fighting against them for long and today he has been made our candidate...it will be difficult for me to convince my supporters...I am going to resign as chief of state party election management committee," Sharma said.

BJP MLA from Aurangabad Ramadhar Singh is spiting fire over ticket to Sushil Kumar Singh, who crossed over to BJP from JD-U recently.

"I'll prefer to die than to seek vote for him," Ramadhar Singh, who was minister in Nitish Kumar NDA government, said.

He said he has conveyed his feeling to the BJP central and state leadership.

The MLA said the decision would impact BJP prospects not only in Aurangabad but also in neighbouring Lok Sabha seats of Chatra and Palamu in Jharkhand and Karakat in Bihar.

BJP MLA from Mahnar Achutanand Singh is peeved at nomination of Rama Singh from Lok Janshakti Party, alliance partner of BJP, from Vaishali and said after consulting supporters, he might contest from there as an Independent candidate.

5 more names will be announced later as the saffron party will contest 30 seats in the state.

Image: Actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha