Shatrughan Sinha praises BJP old guard again

PUNE: BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha, who has repeatedly questioned the present party leadership, today said former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and veterans L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi are the "silver lining in the political cloud of India" and "deserve much more than what they have been given".

Answering questions at the valedictory of a 'students parliament' here, he said in the present scenario, "All the three (Vajpayee, Advani and Joshi) deserve much more than what they have been given as they are the silver lining in the political cloud of India."

"Any movement has to go through four phases before it reaches to respect," said the 70-year-old Patna Sahib MP, who has been at variance with the leadership over a host of issues.

"First phase is mockery as they will make fun of you. In the second phase they will ignore you, in the third phase, they will heap ignominy on you and if you cross the lines, they will oppress you and currently these leaders including me are trapped between oppression and respect," he added.

The actor-turned-politician concluded by saying "Come what may, at the end victory will be ours."

The function was organised by Maharashtra Institute of Technology.