india

Updated: Jan 21, 2019 21:36 IST

Not willing to be cowed down by threats of punitive action being taken against him, rebel BJP leader Shatrughan Sinha has said that if the party high command desires he will quit his party.

In an interview to news agency IANS, he also referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the “real action hero” and said that Mamata Banerjee was the perfect fit for the post of the prime minister.

“Who is this Modi? I know only one Modi in the BJP. The real action hero, our prime minister, the honourable Narendra Modiji. Who are these small fries to tell me what to do? Tell them to please find some other way to get publicity rather than by using my name,” Sinha said while referring to senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi’s comments that “the manner in which he is targeting the BJP, he should quit”.

“As for leaving the party, let the high command say it. I will leave at once,” Shatrughan Sinha said, in an apparent response to Sushil Modi.

Praising West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, he said she was a perfect fit for the prime minister’s job.

“She is certainly the perfect fit for the job. Look at her struggles and sacrifices for her state. She has risen from the grassroots and she cares for the poor and the underdogs,” Sinha said.

Answering a question on whether he saw Mamata Banerjee as the next prime minister, he said, “Yes, why not? Lekin Dilli abhi dur hai. We need to focus on the current political crisis in our country, which is what the gathbandhan (opposition alliance) is trying to do.”

He was referring to the United India Rally that was organised by the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday. Shatrughan Sinha was also present at the rally along with a barrage of heavyweight opposition leaders from various political parties.

Even though he had referred to the PM as the “real action hero”, he also said that the prime minister and said that he has lost touch with the masses and that is why the people are angry and are feeling let down.

“Inaction has driven our current Prime Minister away from the masses. The people are angry. They feel let down,” he said.

Earlier, Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy heaped praise on Mamata and said that she is a “good administrator”.

Kumaraswamy, who had attended the Trinamool Congress-led United India Rally in Kolkata on Saturday, said that Banerjee has the abilities to run the country.

“She (Mamata) is simplest of the simple and a very good administrator. I believe that Mamata ji has all the capabilities of leading the country. And she has already proved herself by leading West Bengal for so many years.”