New Delhi, June 21 (Agency) Opposition parties on Tuesday announced former Union Minister Yashwant Sinha as their unanimous candidate for the Presidential polls scheduled next month. Opposition parties including Congress, TMC, CPI, CPI-M, CPI-ML, Nationalist Congress Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal, RSP, AIMIM, Samajwadi Party, were among those who attended the meeting here. Sinha, who has served as Finance and External Affairs Minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government and is a former BJP leader, was picked after veterans Sharad Pawar and Farooq Abdullah as well as former West Bengal governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi declined the offer to fight the election. Sinha had quit the BJP in 2018 and joined the Trinamool Congress in 2021. On Tuesday morning, ahead of his name being announced as the Opposition candidate, he announced he was stepping aside from the TMC for a “larger national cause” and to work for “greater opposition unity”.
Reading out the joint statement of Opposition parties, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said representatives of various “secular Opposition parties” met in New Delhi on June 15 and adopted a resolution to find a common Presidential candidate to serve as the “custodian of Constitution” and to stop the Narendra Modi government from causing “further damage to Indian democracy and India’s social fabric”. “We are happy to announce that we have unanimously chosen Shri Yashwant Sinha as the common candidate of the Opposition parties for the presidential election, which will take place on July 18, 2022,” said Ramesh. “In his long and distinguished career in public life, Shri Sinha has served the nation in various capacities – as an able administrator, accomplished parliamentarian and acclaimed Union Minister of Finance and External Affairs. He is eminently qualified to uphold the secular and democratic character of the Indian Republic and its Constitutional values,” the statement said. Ramesh said they will talk to all parties so that Sinha may be elected as a consensus candidate.
“Ideally a consensus candidate of government and Opposition should be elected to the highest office of the republic. However, the initiative for this should have been taken by the government. We regret the fact that the Modi government made no serious effort in this direction”. “We therefore appeal to all political parties, to support the candidature of Shri Yashwant Singh so that the nation can have a worthy Rashtrapati elected unopposed,” he said. Ramesh said India is passing through “difficult times”. “The BJP government at the Centre has failed totally in fulfilling its promises and commitment. Furthermore it is misusing ED, CBI, Election Commission, Governor’s Office and other institutions as weapons against Opposition parties and state run institutions. Therefore, we assure the people of India that the unity of Opposition parties which has been forged by the Presidential elections, in a spirit of equality, common commitment and consensus building through dialogue will be better consolidated in the months ahead,” he said. A committee was also formed to steer Sinha’s campaign. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her party’s (Trinamool Congress) national General Secretary Abhisek Banerjee have congratulated former union finance minister on being named the joint opposition candidate for the presidential polls to be held on July 18.
Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and Jairam Ramesh, TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee, DMK’s Tiruchi Siva, CPI-M’s Sitaram Yechury and CPI’s D Raja were among those who participated in the meeting. Some Opposition parties including the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and YSRCP are not a part of this Opposition grouping on the Presidential polls. The process to elect a new president began on June 15. The last date for filing of nominations is June 29. The polls, if necessary, will be held on July 18 and the counting on July 21.