Jayant Sinha refuses to comment on father's meeting with Mamata

Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha on Thursday refused to comment on his father and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Yashwant Sinha's recent meeting with West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee.

"It is the beauty of democracy, we are free to do as we feel, one can meet anyone, one can criticize, why you find it strange? You cannot mix personal and public aspects. My father and I are two different people, if you have questions about him, please ask him. Ask his question to him and mine to me," he told media here.

Yashwant Sinha, along with BJP leader Shatrughan Sinha and former Union minister Arun Shourie, met Mamata Banerjee in Delhi on March 28.

The West Bengal Chief Minister also met opposition leaders, including Congress former president Sonia Gandhi, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar and leaders from the Shiv Sena, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) on March 27 in a bid to bring anti-BJP parties at one platform.

The Union Minister also condemned the opposition's strategy of stalling the Parliament.

"For the last several weeks no work was done in Parliament due to opposition's disruption. It is sad that the House, the country's Panchayat, and we are coming from far-off places to serve the country, is unable to function due to disruption. The country's work, especially passing of important bills, which are necessary for the country, we are unable to pass them," he said.

Reacting on Air India disinvestment, Jayant Sinha said the UPA government made the Maharaja a beggar.

"Top bidder will get 76 percent share and complete management control, Air India will be kept independent and will be run by Indians. We have reduced burden of debt by almost half. The UPA made the Maharaja a beggar, now we are restoring Maharaja's glory," he added.