Should've done it long back: Sonakshi Sinha backs father’s decision to quit BJP

Sonakshi Sinha, a prominent Bollywood actress and daughter of Shatrughan Sinha, who recently quit the BJP to join the Congress, has accused the saffron party of not respecting her father and other senior members, including LK Advani. Speaking to news agency ANI, Sonakshi said that he (Shatrughan Sinha) was little late and that he should have resigned long back.

“Being a party member from the beginning, from the time of JP Narayan ji, Atal ji, and Advani ji, my father has a lot of respect within the party, but I feel the entire group hasn't been given the respect they deserve. I think he has done it a bit too late, should've done it long back,” the actress said.

Sonakshi said that what her father did was his choice and backed her decision, saying, "I think if you're not happy somewhere you must bring a change and that is what he did.”

She also expressed hopes that her father would be able to do more good work in Congress and won’t feel suppressed. “I hope in this new association with Congress, he'll be able to do more good work and not feel suppressed,” she added.

Shatrughan Sinha had on Thursday announced that he will quit the BJP and joined the Congress party in the auspicious period of Navratri that begins on April 6. Sinha, a sitting MP from the Patna Sahib in Bihar, has been a vocal critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah. He announced the “painful” decision after the BJP fielded Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad from the constituency he has been representing for the decades.

Associated with the BJP since the 1990s, Sinha fell out with the party's leadership in the recent past, complaining it has become a "one-man show and two-man army"-- a reference apparently to the duo of Modi and Shah.

Sinha, a champion of democracy and freedom of speech, has repeatedly asserted that he would seek re-election from the Patna Sahib constituency even if it could be as a candidate of a different party. The actor-turned-politician has served as a minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee government and is serving his consecutive term as an MP from Patna Sahib.