Shatrughan Sinha (File image)Kolkata: Actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha today countered assertions that he was an ‘outsider’ contesting the by-poll to the Asansol parliamentary seat in West Bengal. Earlier on Sunday, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had named him the Trinamool Congress’s candidate for Asansol, while former Union Minister Babul Supriyo was nominated for the Ballygunge assembly by-election.Even as the BJP and other Opposition parties criticised the TMC’s choice of candidates, Sinha insisted that he was “honoured” to have Banerjee herself name him as the candidate. The TMC supremo, he added, was a tried and tested successful politician who “holds nation’s future hope against divisive politics pursued by government of the day.””If I am called ‘outsider’ in Asansol, will you say the same for PM contesting election from Varanasi,” he asked. Congress Should Merge With TMC | TMC Minister’s Jibe At Congress | Political News | Election NewsA popular Bollywood hero of the yesteryears, 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-L K Advani era. An union minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee ministry when Banerjee was the railway minister. The two term BJP MP had later walked out of the party over differences with the present leadership, opting to join the Congress in 2019. While he had contested the 2019 polls, Sinha lost to former union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.Related NewsLok Sabha bypolls: TMC fields Shatrughan Sinha from Asansol, Babul Supriyo to contest from Ballygunge