'Khamosh': Shatrughan Sinha avoids question on Ram temple

Kolkata: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Shatrughan Sinha on Friday avoided media when he was asked about the Ayodhya land dispute case.

Sinha arrived in Kolkata to attend an anti-BJP rally organised by the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) in Brigade Parade Ground today.

When a reporter asked him a question on Ram Temple, Sinha simply said, ''Khamosh'' (quiet) and walked away.

He even played safe when he was questioned about the chances of Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as the next Prime Minister.

"She is a national leader in true sense. She is really a tried, tested and experienced leader... Still there is time for people see the writing on the wall," he said.

"There is a long gap between performances and promises. That gap needs to be handled well. The people will decide who will be the next Prime Minister, it is not our job," he added.

The actor turned politician believes the upcoming general elections will be the "most interesting" one.

"It is not going to be between have and have nots. It is going to be between the performer, non-performer and between arrogance and people's power," he said.

"I am not talking to you as the representative of the Bharatiya Janata Party, but at the moment I have come under the leadership of Yashwant Sinha, who has just created Rashtra Manch. It is not a political party, it is a movement.

The issue of most of the people who have come here is not Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Our issues are demonetisation, complicated GST, among others," he added.

Among those to be present at the rally include Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief Chandrababu Naidu, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president MK Stalin, National Conference supremo Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar Abdullah, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejaswi Yadav, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Satish Misra, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Ajit Singh and leader Jayant Chowdhury, former Union ministers and disgruntled BJP leaders Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie, Patidar quota agitation leader Hardik Patel, Opposition leader in Mizoram Lalduwahawma, former Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Gegong Apang, former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren and Gujarat independent MLA and Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Left parties will not be attending the rally. The Congress will be represented by Mallikarjun Kharge.