Shatrughan Sinha moots for BJP-Cong coalition govt

Observing that governments formed with regional parties always remain on "tenterhooks", actor- turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha today mooted a coalition of BJP and Congress for the country's "stability and prosperity".      

"Why cannot it be tried (a coalition government of BJP and the Congress) in the national interest," the BJP leader told PTI here.      

Pointing out that coalition politics has become the norm of the day, Sinha, who has contested the ongoing Lok Sabha polls from Patna Saheb constituency, said past experience has shown that a government formed on basis of  "hard bargaining" with regional parties lived "dangerously" throughout its term.      

In this scenario, a coalition government of the BJP and the Congress could be "stable, durable and free from trouble," Sinha felt.      

"I am giving this (idea of a BJP-Congress government) as a food for thought," Sinha, who was a cabinet minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, said.      

There were many examples in the foreign countries of principal political parties joining hands to form a stable government, he said.      

Asked who would lead the coalition government in that situation, Sinha said whichever party has the highest number should have its leader as the Prime Minister.

Such a government could be based on a Common Minimum Programme (CMP) which could take better care of the country's economic and foreign policies, Sinha said.      

Asked how the main political adversaries could come together, he said "politics is an art of possibilities".      

"If you can knock the doors of Left, Samajwadi Party plus Kalyan Singh and Muslim League...What is the harm in working this combination (Cong+BJP)," he asked Congress leaders.      

"Nobody shall be treated as untouchable in politics," Sinha, who has been a two-term Rajya Sabha member from Bihar before trying his luck in Lok Sabha polls this time, said.      

Sinha later left for Shirdi Sai Baba temple in Maharashtra where he said he would pray for the success of the party and for BJP leader L K Advani becoming the Prime Minister of the country.      

BJP's key strategist Sudheendra Kulkarni had last week remarked during a TV debate that his party does not consider Congress political "untouchable". 

However, he later sought to clarify the comments and said "the question" of the two parties "working together in the post-May 16 scenario is simply unthinkable".