Yashwant Sinha joined his new party at the Trinamool Bhawan in Kolkata.
Yashwant Sinha, a former Union Finance Minister under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, joined the Trinamool Congress today weeks before the West Bengal Assembly elections. The 83-year-old former BJP leader had resigned from his party in 2018. His joining the party led by Prime Minister Mamata Banerjee is likely to be seen as a reward for a team that has seen a steady departure of leaders and cadres. in recent months.
Mr. Sinha joined his new group shortly after noon at the Trinamool Bhawan in Kolkata in the presence of Derek O Brien, Sudip Bandopadhyay and Subrata Mukherjee. Speaking about development, Mr. Mukherjee said, “We are proud that Yashwant Sinha is joining us.”
The senior leader met with Ms. Banerjee at her residence before joining the party. Speaking at the event, he said: “The country was at a crossroads. The values we believed in are in jeopardy. Institutions are weakening, including the judiciary … This is a serious fight across the country. It is not just a political fight. ” It is a fight to save democracy. “
Today he raised several issues at the press meeting, including the ongoing farmer unrest and the border situation with China. He also tried to make a comparison between the government of Narendra Modi and that of his former boss, Prime Minister Vajpayee.
“There is no one to stop the bad actions of the government. Atalji believed in consensus, this government believes in coercion. Atalji believed in co-option, this government believes in conquest. Atalji built a national alliance. He did not want to weaken the allies. and take your space, “said Sinha.
In the run-up to the Bengal elections, the Trinamool has seen a steady stream of leaders like Suvendu Adhikari and Rajib Banerjee shifting their allegiance to the BJP, a party eager to replace the Banerjee regime. Sinha’s entry into the party at this juncture helps the ruling Bengal regime set an example, at least symbolically, that these defections are a two-way street.
Mr. Sinha first became Finance Minister in November 1990 and remained in office until June 1991, under Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar. His second term ran from December 1998 to July 2002 under Prime Minister Vajpayee. From then until May 2004, he was Minister of Foreign Affairs of India.
Sinha, a former IAS officer from the 1960 group, joined politics in 1984, starting with the Janata Party after leaving government service. He later joined the BJP.
His son Jayant Sinha remains a member of the BJP and a MP from Hazaribagh (Jharkhand). Although he is Minister of State for Civil Aviation and Finance to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his first term (2014-19), he was not assigned ministerial responsibilities after reelection in 2019.
With a generational shift that overtook the BJP in the middle of the last decade, Sinha was perceived to have been marginalized. He soon became a vocal critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and later left the party.
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