Former BJP leader Yashwant Sinha has joined Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Saturday in Kolkata ahead of the upcoming West Bengal Assembly elections. He joined TMC in presence of Derek O Brien, Sudip Bandopadhyay, and Subrata Mukherjee.
Speaking to the reporters, the 83-year-old leader said that the attack on Mamata Banerjee was a “tipping point” for him to join TMC.
“The tipping point was the attack on Mamata Ji in Nandigram. It was the moment of decision to join TMC and support Mamata Ji,” he said.
Taking a dig at the BJP, he added, "BJP during Atal Ji's time believed in consensus but today's government believes in crushing and conquering. Akalis, BJD have left the BJP. Today, who is standing with BJP?"
Praising Mamata Banerjee, Sinha said “she has remained a fighter. At the time of the Kandahar plane highjack incident, Mamataji proposed to the cabinet that she was ready to be a hostage so others are freed. She was ready to give her life for the country.”
He also said that he spoke to the TMC Supremo in the morning and talked about many things. He said TMC should be strengthened by 2024 to ensure a formidable challenge to the BJP at the Lok Sabha elections.
A former IAS officer, he joined politics in 1984, he was part of the Janata Party.
He is a bitter critic of PM Narendra Modi and left the party 2018, stating that “India’s democracy was in danger.”
He first became the Minister of Finance in 1990 till 1991 in Chandra Shekhar’s government and then became the Finance Minister between December 1998 and July 2002 in the Vajpayee’s government. He was also India’s Foreign Minister between 2002 and 2004.
Yashwant Sinha’s son Jayant Sinha is a BJP member and MP from Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh.
The tenure of the 16th Legislative Assembly of West Bengal will end on May 30 this year. A total of 7,34,07,832 voters will choose their representative for the 17th Legislative Assembly of West Bengal.
Voting will happen in eight phases and the first phase of polling will take place on April 1. The results will be declared on May 2.