'Soopda saaf' for BJP in UP and Bihar: Shatrughan Sinha

Actor-turned-politician and Congress leader Shatrughan Sinha on Sunday expressed confidence that he would retain the Patna Sahib Lok Sabha seat for the third consecutive term despite a formidable challenge posed by the BJP, which has fielded Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad from the seat.

Sinha, whose wife Poonam has also made her electoral debut in Lucknow against Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, said for the BJP it would be "soopda saaf" (whitewash) at the hands of the "Mahagathbandhan" in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, which together account for 120 Lok Sabha seats.

Of the 120 seats, more than 100 were bagged by the NDA five years ago.

The sitting MP also scoffed at claims made by the BJP, which he quit last month ending three decades of association, that it was poised to win 300 seats on its own.

"They did not win 300 in 2014 despite the Modi lahar (wave). Now when the lahar has become a kahar (curse), making such a claim is just bluster," he told reporters outside the polling station where he cast his vote.