With BJP announcing union cabinet minister Ravi Shankar Prasad’s name for the Patna Sahib Lok Sabha seat, chances of the current sitting MP, Shatrughan Sinha to retain his seat have taken a nosedive. What didn’t come as a shocker to many was BJP dropping Patna Sahib lawmaker Shatrughan Sinha from the list of candidates for the ensuing general elections.
The actor turned politician Shatrughan Sinha, who is popularly known as ‘shotgun’ won the election in 2014 on a BJP ticket however after being denied a cabinet post and an important role in state politics, friction developed between him and the party leadership. Since then Shatrughan Sinha has been critical of the government and specifically the Prime Minister. Continuous attack on the party leadership has led to a certain decline in Shatrughan Sinha’s popularity among BJP’s party cadre. With focus away from his constituency, Shatrughan Sinha’s performance as an MP has had many leakages.
According to PRS, Shatrughan Sinha’s attendance in the parliament has been just 67% while the state average is much higher at 87%. With a number of questions asked, number of debates and number of private members bill at a shocking zero for which the state average is 198,58.8 and 3.2 respectively, legitimate questions over his commitment towards duties of an MP are being raised. Apart from being the member of Lok Sabha (2009–2014, 2014–2019) and Rajya Sabha for two times, Shatrughan Sinha was also Union Cabinet Minister of Health and Family Welfare (Jan 2003 – May 2004) and Shipping (Aug. 2004) in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.
Shatrughan Sinha was also seen mingling with the leaders of the opposition on many occasions in the past, in his attempt to pressurize the BJP. His hostile attitude towards Prime Minister Modi and the BJP has further declined his popularity among voters who elected him in the 2014 general elections.
Ravi Shankar Prasad entering the political scene is surely not a good indication for Shatrughan Sinha’s electoral plans. BJP heavyweight Ravi Shankar Prasad has been serving as a Cabinet Minister in Modi government and comes back to the election party with 5 years of stellar performance in the centre. In the merchant dominated Patna Sahib where caste-based calculations are expected to come into play, Ravi Shankar Prasad is also expected to be on an advantageous position.
Disgruntled voters over his negligence of the constituency and new formed links with leaders of the Congress are both set to impact elections for Shatrughan Sinha in an undesirable way. Reports over Shatrughan Sinha joining the Congress in the coming days are also making rounds. “It is almost final that Shatrughan ji will join Congress either on March 24 or 25,” an aide said. On being enquired about the reasons behind him joining congress he said. “Congress is a better option as it would provide Shatrughan ji the opportunity to be in national politics.”
Taking Shatrughan Sinha’s declining popularity over his meek performance as an MP coupled with his irrational attacks on the Indian Prime Minister into consideration, voters of the Patna Sahib constituency who gave a whopping victory to Shatrughan Sinha in the 2014 elections are likely favor BJP stalwart Ravi Shankar Prasad, giving Shatrughan Sinha’s political journey a bitter shock. Bihar with its 40 Lok Sabha constituency is set to go into elections in seven phases with the last phase to see polling on 19th of May.