Shatrughan Sinha plays down Advani absence in Hoonkar rally

BJP leader Shatrughan Sinha today sought to downplay the absence of patriarch L K Advani in its proposed rally here on Sunday, to be addressed by Narendra Modi, and said the party's wish to choose Modi as the Prime Minister is a command for him.

"Everybody is together in the party ... Not only Advaniji, many other BJP leaders will also not come to Patna for the Hoonkar rally on October 27 because of prior engagements," said the actor-turned politician, who is known to be close to Advani and had not attended the party's Goa conclave after initially expressing reservation over Narendra Modi being chosen as its prime ministerial candidate.

Sinha is BJP MP of Patna Saheb in whose constituency the proposed rally is scheduled. The rally is significant in that it would be the first political engagement of Narendra Modi in his bete noire Nitish Kumar's home turf.

"Advaniji is a father figure for BJP like Atal Bihari Vajpayee," he told reporters after flagging off a motorcycle rally at party headquarters here to drum up support for the rally.

Sinha, who was a cabinet minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee's NDA government, said since the party's highest decision making body - the BJP Parliamentary board had chosen Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate he was 'fully' with it.

"The party's wish to make Narendra Modi Prime Minister of the country is a command for me," he said.

Sinha would share the dias with Narendra Modi at the rally to be held at Gandhi maidan. He had addressed meetings at Fatuha and Bakhtiyarpur in rural Patna in his constituency yesterday and asked people to attend the rally in large numbers.