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Yashwant Sinha joins TMC, says attack on Mamata was ‘tipping point’
This is the first time that a national level BJP leader has joined the TMC. Sinha’s joining came as a breather for the TMC just ahead of the elections. This also comes at a time when more than 30 sitting and former legislators have abandoned the ruling TMC in West Bengal to join the BJP.
Yashwant Sinha, former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and a minister in Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s cabinet, joined the Trinamool Congress on Saturday, saying that the “tipping point” behind the move was the alleged attack on West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
Sinha’s announcement comes weeks ahead of assembly elections in the state, where Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress and the BJP are locked in a high-voltage political slugfest. The 83-year-old leader said it was the call of the hour to ensure the Trinamool Congress won the assembly elections with a thumping majority.
More than 30 sitting and former legislators and multiple leaders have abandoned the ruling Trinamool Congress recently in West Bengal to join the BJP.
“Mamata has always been a fighter and she is still a fighter. When the Indian Airlines flight was hijacked and terrorists took it to Kandahar, she offered to become a hostage. She was ready to sacrifice her life in return for the lives of the hostages in the plane,” Sinha told reporters at the Trinamool Bhawan in Kolkata.
“The tipping point (behind joining the TMC) was the attack on Mamata Banerjee. When I spoke to her today, she described the incident to me. This government can do anything to win the election. The attack on Mamata made me decide that I want to work beside her,” Sinha added.
Banerjee was allegedly attacked at Nandigram in East Midnapore, from where she will contest the polls, hours after she filed her nomination papers on Wednesday evening. She was rushed to a hospital in Kolkata before being released on Friday.
“You must be surprised to see me joining a party which is not called BJP. There is a huge difference between Atal Ji’s party and today’s BJP. Atal ji used to believe in conscientious [approach] and today’s government, just want to crush and conquer. Atal Ji made a national collision to run the country properly, but today’s government doesn’t have almost any allies. So, this fight has become the fight to save the democracy of the country. I have worked with Mamata in Vajpayee ji’s government and we will again work together to save the democracy of this country,” he added.
The BJP, which won 18 of the 42 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, says it is targeting to win more than 200 out of the 294 seats in the state assembly. The TMC, however, has said that the BJP would not be able to cross double digits. “It is almost certain that the TMC will win this upcoming election with a thumping majority, but we all need to make sure that the victory is more thumping. The message from Bengal should go that the country will not tolerate Modi-Shah’s misrule anymore. This is a vital election for the future of this country. The path of change in Delhi in 2024 will go through Bengal,” Sinha said.
Sinha quit the BJP owing to differences with the central leadership in 2018, after a long period of criticising PM Modi and his policies. Sinha served as the finance minister from 1990 to 1991 and then again from 1999 to 2002 during the Vajpayee government. He then served as the external affairs minister until 2004.
“It’s better to talk less about the opportunists. Yashwant Sinha sahab is aged now, perhaps he doesn’t know calculations but both Atal ji and Modi ji have greatly worked for eastern India,” said Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday.
