BJP asks Shatrughan Sinha to show restraint

BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha has been asked to show restraint while making comments in favour of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and those less than laudatory for Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as these were harming the party's interest, party sources said.

They said party president Rajnath Singh has asked Sinha not to praise Nitish Kumar or speak about Modi in a manner that raises eyebrows in the party.

Modi is the chief of campaign committee of Bharatiya Janata Party for the 2014 elections, while Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United has snapped its ties with the BJP.

Referring to argument about Modi's popularity, Sinha had said that if popularity was the criteria, then actor Amitabh Bachchan should be made the president of India. He had also described Nitish Kumar as "PM material".

BJP leader Shanawaz Hussain said Saturday in response to Sinha's remarks that reel life and real life were different.

He said that politics was real life and and "in that BJP leaders were not only popular but live in hearts of people".

There is perception in sections of BJP that Sinha has got away without any disciplinary action for his remarks as he praises leader L.K. Advani in his interviews.