Come Nov 10, Tejashwi’s critics will be ‘khamoshed’: Shatrughan Sinha

Congress leader Shatrughan Sinha with son and Congress candidate from Bankipur assembly seat Luv Sinha and wife Poonam Sinha coming out after casting the vote at a polling station during the second phase of state elections in Patna on Tuesday. (UNI)
Congress leader Shatrughan Sinha with son and Congress candidate from Bankipur assembly seat Luv Sinha and wife Poonam Sinha coming out after casting the vote at a polling station during the second phase of state elections in Patna on Tuesday. (UNI)

NEW DELHI/PATNA, Nov 3: Critics of RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav will be “khamoshed” (silenced) when results for Bihar assembly polls are declared on November 10 as the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ is headed for a “landslide” win, senior Congress leader Shatrughan Sinha said on Tuesday.
The actor-turned-politician also said personal attacks were being made against the grand alliance’s chief ministerial candidate by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders as they were “totally rattled” by Yadav’s well-thought and researched promise of providing 10 lakh jobs to the youth of Bihar.
In an interview with PTI, Sinha said the “writing on the wall is clear” that the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ will be ‘maha vijayi’ (grandly victorious) as everyone can see the attraction and euphoria for the grand opposition alliance.
“The writing on the wall is absolutely clear, the youth brigade led by our very own, dynamic, most talked-about man of aspirations and expectations, Tejashwi Yadav, along with his young team, is going to form the government with a massive landslide victory of the RJD, the Congress and the Left parties,” he said.
“The success of the grand alliance in Bihar is inevitable because people want that. The kind of euphoria that has been generated by national youth icon Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav, I would say — seeing is believing,” said the former Union minister, who had switched to the Congress before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls after spending several years in the BJP.
Asked about the criticism that Tejashwi Yadav was inexperienced, Sinha, in his inimitable baritone while improvising on his trademark dialogue ‘khamosh’, said, “The critics will be totally ‘Khamoshed’ on the day of the election results on November 10.”
Sinha, whose son Luv Sinha is also in the fray for the Bihar assembly polls, also alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not talking about development issues and said he had often talked about a ‘Congress-mukt Bharat’, but the country is now becoming a ‘Congress-yukt Bharat’.
“Congress is a party that has made the maximum contribution to the independence of the country. It has been a party of big leaders. It is an old, gold, bold and beautiful party and you say that you will make a Congress-mukt Bharat, but since you have said this, leave aside Congress-mukt Bharat, it is becoming Congress-yukt Bharat,” he said.
“The prime minister is a friend of mine and a guardian of the nation by virtue of being the prime minister. But even once, he has not talked about solutions to problems. Unfortunately, he has not been able to fulfill a single promise made to Bihar. He says will give Rs 1.25 lakh crore package — (but that amounts to) tall talk, hollow promises,” Sinha said.
Hitting out at the NDA for “taunting” Tejashwi Yadav and allegedly making personal attacks, the 74-year-old Congress leader said the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader’s promise of 10 lakh jobs has “totally rattled them”.
The situation is going to get worse because the NDA government is “selling” all the PSUs of the country and Yadav has done such a good thing by raising the issue of jobs in the current scenario, Sinha said.
“But he is being taunted where will the money come from and then Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman makes an announcement about 19 lakh jobs. Where will the money come from for that?” he said.
“They (NDA) are totally rattled and the announcement (of 10 lakh jobs) has created a euphoria. This is a well thought out announcement, it is also well researched and made after consulting intellectuals and experts,” Sinha said.
He also criticised Modi for using terms like “jungle raj ka yuvraj” for Tejashwi and asked how would the prime minister feel if someone uses such language against him.
“I won’t say, but If someone used such language for him, how would he feel… In Bihar he is talking about China, triple talaq, Article 370, when he should be talking about development, education, health, unemployment, jobs, per capita income, farmers etc,” he said. (PTI)