For actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has all the qualities to be the prime minister of India. The TMC leader, who is contesting from Asansol for the second time in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, said he is confident of people’s love for him and hopes to win by a bigger margin.
News18 caught up with the star who only had one message for voters — “Yeh Khamosh Mizaaji Tumhe Jeene Nahi Degi, Zamane Mein Rehna Hai Toh Kohram Macha Do [Being quiet will not let you live, make some noise if you want to live in this society].”
Asked about his prospects in the current election, Sinha was somewhat evasive. “I will not say I am confident, I am confident of our people. Whatever funds I got, combined with the old funds of Babul Supriyo, helped us do a lot of work. I have made a booklet on the work done in Asansol and shared it with people. It’s sad that Bengal’s funds have been stopped by the Centre, whether it is development fund, MGNREGA fund, or Awaas Yojana.
He said all guarantees given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi are ‘jumla’. What has he done? He is coming with new guarantees to wipe out old ‘jumlas’. First they have to answer why they stopped our money. We want ‘Sadda Haq’ [our right].
Asked whether Mamata can match Modi, the former actor said she has already countered him. ‘She is quite capable of becoming the prime minister. My friend Narendra Modi became the prime minister. What was he? He was the chief minister of a state. He has no special qualifications. You can also become the PM if you have the numbers. Mamata Banerjee has her own wave. In the entire country, there is only one woman chief minister who is so popular. The Centre is attacking her. We speak about women’s prestige but last time they did “Didi, Oh Didi”. People gave an answer to that. This time also, they are doing the same thing. This proves Banerjee is powerful’.
With inputs from News18