I am no less a Bengali, I am not an outsider, says Shatrughan

kolkata: Hinging on actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha's star power and appeal among the Hindi-speaking population, the TMC hopes to clinch the Asansol Lok Sabha seat, with the 'Bihari babu' trying to fight off the outsider tag in the industrial town.

The ruling party in Bengal, which has never tasted success in poll-bound Asansol, apart from four other parliamentary constituencies of the state, is pulling all stops to break the jinx.

"We are hopeful that Sinha, who is hugely popular among the masses, will be able to clinch the seat for us," V Sivadasan Dasu, Trinamool Congress Paschim Bardhaman convener, said.

The Lok Sabha by-poll has rekindled the 'insider-outsider' debate, a poll plank that helped the TMC trounce the BJP in last year's assembly polls, with the ruling TMC at the receiving end this time as the BJP has gone all guns blazing to project Sinha as an "outsider".

According to TMC sources, nominating the two-time Patna Sahib MP, who has worked in Delhi for the better part of his political career, is part of the party's national outreach strategy. Popularly called 'Shotgun' by fans for his straightforward dialogue deliveries in films, Sinha, who joined the

TMC after his four-decade-long stint in BJP and a brief innings in Congress, however, rejected the "outsider" tag given by his rivals.

"I am no less a Bengali than any other Bengali. I am not an outsider. I have always adored Bengali language and Bengali culture. I have done many films in Bengal, and the Bengali language that I speak is not dubbed," Sinha, known for his signature dialogue 'khamosh' said.

"Like my 'janmabhoomi' (birthplace) Bihar, Bengal has always had my heart," the former Union minister said.