Advani replaced deliberately, Amit Shah no match for him: Shatrughan Sinha

New Delhi, Mar 23: Actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha on Saturday in a fresh salvo said he is "able and capable of answering back" to the party "in the same coin" even as he termed the sidelining of party stalwart LK Advani as "worrisome, painful".

In a series of tweets, Sinha, said the replacing of Advani for the Gandhinagar seat by party chief Amit Shah "whose image or personality is no match nor a patch on him" was done "deliberately and intentionally" and "hasn't gone down well with the people". He said "no one can approve of such treatment to a father figure".

"Sirji, instead of playing Rafale Baba and Chalis Chowkidar, which has already fallen flat on its face, it's high time and right time to take some corrective measures (if you still can) and go for damage control soon, sooner the better. It's worrisome, painful and according to some people, even shameful what your people have done was the most expected and awaited....orchestrating the departure of a most respected friend, philosopher, guide, father figure and ultimate leader of the party Shri. L.K.Advani, from the political arena/ election (sic)," Shatrughan Sinha said in a series of tweets.

Former deputy PM LK Advani was not given a ticket for the upcoming polls, and in his place, BJP chose its party president Amit Shah to fight from the Gandhinagar constituency.

Sinha was replaced and the decision to contest Ravi Shankar Prasad from the crucial Bihar seat was taken by the BJP's senior leadership at a meeting held at party's headquarters in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah.

Sinha, a two-time MP from Patna Sahib, according to reports, is set to fight the Lok Sabha seat anyway, most likely as a Congress candidate.