Not quitting BJP anytime soon, Shatrughan Sinha plays down rumours

NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Shatrughan Sinha on Saturday rubbished reports which said that he may soon quit the party. Referring to all such reports as rumours, the MP from Patna Sahib said: "There were rumours that I would quit the party because I had not been given the ticket. But, I am clarifying it today that I am here to stay. I am not going to go anywhere." 

His statement comes on a day when former party leader Yashwant Sinha quit the BJP saying he was taking 'sanyaas' from politics. 

Earlier in March, Sinha had hinted that he may contest the next Lok Sabha election on a different party ticket as leaders like him were being "unfairly treated".  "As they are my own people, I can`t speak about their behaviour to outsiders in detail... My party knows it hurt me. Not just now but from day one when this government came to power." 

He had said that he would not move from the Patna Sahib constituency seat in Bihar from where he has been elected to the Lok Sabha. "I have offers from other parties. Whether I serve through my party or some other parties or even contest independently, it hardly matters. There were rumours in the last elections too that I will not get ticket from the BJP. But I got the ticket. (In 2014) My name was announced at the last moment from the same seat. Now, I am again hearing these rumours," Sinha had said.

Questioning why he will not be given the ticket again, he had said he won from his seat with a record margin. "I broke previous records and got the highest vote share in the country. Why will I not be given ticket," he had then asked.