Kolkata: Shatrughan Sinha, the actor-turned-politician who has now joined TMC and contested in a by-election from Asansol Lok Sabha seat in West Bengal, has taken a shot at BJP, stating that CBI and ED are the “biggest allies” of the BJP government at the centre.

Singha who was with the BJP for years, but quit before the last Lok Sabha polls and joined the Congress, also quit the Congress recently and joined TMC. The party offered him a ticket to contest the Asansol by-election.

Though he has quit Congress, interestingly, he is not ready to give a clear reason for leaving the party. “ Sometimes in order to move in the right direction, you have to take a new direction”, he said, avoiding direct reply.

Rejecting to accept the statements of BJP who are calling him an outsider to Bengal, Sinha asserted that he was "no less a Bengali than any other Bengali".

"Without realising what political opportunism is, the BJP is levelling such allegations. I find it is no longer the party built by the late Atal Bihari Vajpayee and has turned into an authoritarian outfit. It makes use of the CBI, ED and the Income Tax Department on its political opponents to settle scores”, he said.

Stating that BJP now has no important political parties as allied partners, it has made probe agencies as to its partners in rugging an authoritarian government, he charged.

Expressing gratitude to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for offering him a ticket to contest the polls, he said, "I have nothing personal against PM Modi. The differences are purely political. Had we been able to resolve political differences, I would not be here with TMC today" he said.

He accused Congress of failing to meet the promises made to him while he was joining the party.
He had joined the Congress after quitting the BJP and even contested the Lok Sabha election from Patna Sahib, but failed to win.

"The Congress is going through a crisis phase, and I think it is not the appropriate time to put salt into their wounds. " he said.

The 76-year-old Sinha is pitted against BJP's Agnimitra Paul in the Asansol Lok Sabha constituency scheduled to go to the polls on April 12. Votes will be counted on April 16.