Kolkata, June 11 (IANS) Trinamool Congress (TMC) Lok Sabha MP and veteran actor Shatrughan Sinha on Thursday congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi on completing 12 years in office, describing him as a friend and guide.

In a post on X, Sinha also wished him a long, healthy and prosperous life.

The veteran politician lauded the Prime Minister on reaching the milestone and acknowledged what he described as one of the longest tenures in the country’s history.

“In true sportsman spirit, wishing our friend & guide of society/nation, Hon’ble PM @narendramodi, best wishes on completing 12 years in office, perhaps the longest tenure, ever. Wish you a long, healthy & prosperous life ahead. Jai Hind!” Sinha wrote in the social media post.

It is reported that Sinha is one of the Trinamool Congress MPs in the list of rebel MPs in the Lok Sabha who have decided to join the NDA.

The TMC leader’s message came as BJP-led NDA leaders marked Prime Minister Modi’s completion of 12 years in office and his milestone of becoming India’s longest-serving democratically elected Prime Minister in consecutive terms.

However, according to political experts, Sinha’s message came at a time when the Trinamool Congress is in turmoil with internal conflicts with a section of MLAs in the state Assembly and MPs in Lok Sabha revolting against the party leadership and especially against its general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.

It may be noted that Sinha had joined the BJP in the early 80s when it was a party of two MPs and served as its star campaigner during the Vajpayee-LK Advani era. He was a Union minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s ministry.

The two-term MP from Patna Sahib later quit the BJP over differences of opinion with the present leadership. He joined the Congress and contested from the same constituency in the 2019 polls but lost to former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.

Sinha had attended Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee’s mega anti-BJP rally at Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata before the 2019 parliamentary polls when he was still a BJP MP.

In 2022, Sinha won the Lok Sabha bypoll from the Asansol constituency in West Burdwan district on a Trinamool ticket. In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, he retained the seat.

–IANS

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