Sulking Bharatiya Janata Party MP Shatrughan Sinha on Monday claimed the Bihar poll results could have been different for his party had he been projected as the chief ministerial candidate.
"I am not bragging, but I do feel that when the darling (laadla) of Bihar people, the dhartiputra (son of the soil) and the original 'Bihari babu' was deliberately sidelined, it definitely had an impact on my supporters and fans.
"I can't say how much difference it could have been, but I can definitely say, some difference would have been there. We could have definitely got more seats than what we got," he told Rajat Sharma in 'Aap ki Adalat' programme on India TV, according to a press release issued by the channel.
Asked whether he was unhappy for not being made a minister at the Centre, he said,"These are all stale dialogues, planted by vested interests. Some people grabbed too many posts, they started saying I am unhappy because I was not made a minister.
Sinha said, "You don't get feathers of gold on you when you become a minister, but yes, when I was not made a minister, my fans, supporters, my relatives, friends and my voters began thinking why was I not made a minister. What was my sin? Was my performance not good as a health minister, or whether I did not perform well in the shipping ministry."
He said, "I know, and I console them by saying it is prime minister's prerogative to select a minister. I am not challenging his wisdom, but simultaneously I console them, if not today, tomorrow (may be I become a minister)."
On his name not figuring in the posters and banners during Bihar polls, he said, "Several times they (supporters, fans) felt I was being deliberately sidelined, for some particular reason, on which I will not speak much".
The Patna Sahib MP also did not approve of making the prime minister the sole campaigner for the party but said, had he not campaigned the BJP would not even have got the seats it won.
"Is it the right method? Could we not lessen the prime minister's burden? Could we not been brought to the front? But why, I think you know the reason better," he said, seeking accountability being fixed and action taken against those responsible for the defeat.
Hitting out at the party leadership for inducting leaders from outside to micromanage the campaign in Bihar, he said they were brought in from Punjab, Maharashtra and Delhi, "who were completely out of touch with grassroots workers and ground reality, who did not understand the caste equations here."
Sinha said, "these people stationed here for months together, so much money, talent and energy were spent, and what was the result?...We do not learn from the earlier defeat in Delhi. It showed desperation. We lost badly and that makes me sad."
'Nitish is a tried, tested and successful chief minister'
Sinha said those responsible for the debacle should be taken to task and responsibility fixed for the loss.
The actor-turned-politician, who caused embarrassment to the party in the run-up to Bihar polls, met JD-U leader Nitish Kumar and congratulated him for the victory of the Grand Alliance.
Heaping praises on Kumar, he said he was a "tried, tested and successful" chief minister. He later also met RJD chief Lalu Prasad and congratulated him.
Sinha said he considers Kumar to be a "very good and respectable leader" after former West Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu, and termed today's meeting as one that should be viewed in healthy sportsman spirit.
"There should be action against those responsible. They should be taken to task and they should get lessons. As former Home Secretary and party leader RK Singh has said, responsibility should be fixed and those responsible for this loss should draw lessons even if action is not taken," he told reporters after meeting Kumar.
Quizzed about his meeting Nitish being in defiance of the party line, he said it should not be viewed as such as he had met the Bihar chief minister in a spirit of healthy politics. He also cited the example of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and other BJP leaders wishing Kumar on his victory.
Asked whether the party was considering action against him, he said, "I have no such information or news. I have done nothing that I should feel or realise that there should be action against me. But, still, if someone wants to take action against me, I cannot stop it. Till I am in the party, the party's direction will be like an order for me."
Queried on talk about him being regarded as BJP's "shatru", Sinha said, "I have not heard that" and wondered how he could have been in the party for so many years right from the beginning.
"I have said it is my first and last party. I don't think it considers me as an enemy," he said.
The Patna Sahib BJP MP cited the love and support of the people as the reason for his victory and said, "Nitish babu has a significant contribution towards issues of law and order, administration, especially Bihar's progress and on good governance. He has been a tried, tested and successful chief minister and his track record has been good.
"After Jyoti Babu, in my view, Nitish babu has been a very good and respectable leader, both as a person and by his personality."
Sinha, who is popularly called 'Bihari babu', congratulated the people and leaders in Bihar for the victory of Kumar, which he said was for its pride and for taking Bihar forward on the path of progress.
