Sonakshi Sinha says her father Shatrughan should have quit BJP long back

MUMBAI: Backing her father Shatrughan Sinha's decision to leave BJP, Bollywood actor Sonakshi Sinha said he should have taken the step long ago as an entire group of leaders, including LK Advani, has not been given the respect it deserved.

She said that having been a member of the party since the time of late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Advani, her father had a lot of respect within BJP.

"(But now) I feel the entire group hasn't been given the respect it deserved. I think he has done it a bit too late. He should've done it a long back," she said.

"If you are not happy with what is happening at a place with which you are associated, then there is a need to bring a change. And the same he did. I hope in his new association with Congress, he will be able to do a lot of good work and not feel suppressed," the 'Dabangg' actor told reporters at an award function here on Friday.

Actor-turned-politician and former BJP leader Shatrughan Sinha had on March 28



met Congress president Rahul Gandhi in Delhi and said that he will join Congress during the auspicious occasion of Navaratri next month.

The development came after Shatrughan Sinha, a vocal critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was denied a BJP ticket from Patna Sahib parliamentary constituency in Bihar. He is currently the Member of Parliament (MP) from the seat.

"Democracy within BJP does not exist any longer. Dictatorship prevails instead. That's why I have decided to join the Congress party during the auspicious period of Navaratri," he had told reporters.

Describing himself a great admirer of the Nehru-Gandhi family, he had also said that he would contest the Lok Sabha polls from the Patna Sahib seat. "In every situation, the location will be the same, Patna," he had said.

He was elected twice, in 2009 and 2014, from Patna Sahib. Bihar will vote in all the seven phases of the general election from April 11 to May 19. Counting of votes will take place on May 23.