Gujarat polls a chunauti' for BJP, there's anger among people: Shatrughan Sinha

New Delhi: There is anger among people over GST and demonetisation and the writing on the wall is clear that the Gujarat assembly election is not just a ‘chunav’ (poll) for the BJP but a ‘chunauti’ (challenge), outspoken party MP Shatrughan Sinha said on Wednesday.

Sharing dais with Congress leader Manish Tewari at a panel discussion on the latter’s book, Sinha also defended his comments on economic issues, saying “if a lawyer can talk about finances, if a TV actress can be the HRD minister and if a ‘chaiwala’ can be... then why I cannot talk about economy?”

His remarks were an obvious reference to finance minister Arun Jaitley, information and broadcasting minister Smriti Irani, who was earlier the HRD minister, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, he did not name any of them.

He maintained that he was not challenging his party but “showing mirror to it” in the BJP’s and national interest.

“From the writing on the wall and anger among people over GST, demonetisation, unemployment... seeing it, I don’t want to say how many seats the BJP will get but certainly this election is going to be a special challenge,” he said.

However, the BJP MP from Patna Sahib said the party can increase its seats with unity and should not take the elections lightly.

“I will only say the matter is serious and this is not chunav (election), but chunauti (challenge),” he said.

Asked if he could join any other political party, the former cinestar replied with his signature dialogue, “khamosh (keep quiet)”.

Sinha has been a vocal critic of the Modi government’s policies and decisions over a number of issues, including GST and demonetisation.