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Govt did not work on a consensus candidate: Yashwant Sinha on July 18 poll
Sinha said the Presidential election is a clash of ideologies and not identities and underlined the need to have a person in Rashtrapati Bhavan who could advise the government
Yashwant Sinha, who is the opposition’s candidate for the July 18 presidential election, on Monday said the Union government had not tried to bring about a consensus on the issue of election to the highest constitutional post of the country.
“It was the government’s responsibility to ensure there is a consensus candidate and they did not make any serious effort to forge that. During the calls to the opposition leaders, they were not told who the candidate was to be. They (government) waited for the opposition to announce their candidate,” Sinha said shortly after filing his nomination
The former minister said he had reached out to Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, “I called the PM and left a message to speak to him, like before there was no response. I called Rajnath Singh, he called back but we couldn’t speak. But I will try and contact all my old contacts in the BJP,” he said.
To elicit support for his candidacy, Sinha said he also spoke to Assadudin Owaisi who has assured him of support, and plans to speak to all the others. He said both the JMM and JDS were present at the meetings called by TMC and NCP to discuss the candidate and were party to the decision to nominate him. “The day my rival candidate was announced, the same day, the Odisha CM said he will support her on the basis of regional compulsions. I have tried to reach out to Chandrababu and Kejriwal. And I will begin my campaign from Kerala,” he said.
In Bihar and Jharkhand, I think, irrespective of what the leaders say the sentiment is different, he added.
Sinha said the Presidential election is a clash of ideologies and not identities and underlined the need to have a person in Rashtrapati Bhavan who could advise the government.
“The post of president has some responsibility, and the president is part of the whole scheme of checks and balances… to ensure that the executive of the day does not cross certain lines. The president has the most important duty of advising the government, it is his right and responsibility to advise on what to do…,” he said.
Sinha went on to say, it is important to have a person in Rashtrapati Bhavan, who can fulfill these responsibilities. “If anyone goes who is under the government’s control, they will not even have the power to give a suggestion. There have been instances in the past when presidents have been a rubber stamp and not fulfilled their Constitutional responsibility,” he said.
The former BJP leader and former Union minister also lashed out at the current government for “misusing” investigation agencies to put pressure on the opposition.
“The government is misusing its agencies against not just the criminals but also against political opponents. We have never seen this before. On the basis of my personal experience I can say, agencies used to approach people and question them. It is not how it is now; people are in and out of ED offices and going for questioning for 50 hours. This is happening because the government’s intent is to humiliate not investigate. This is very sad for our democracy.”
He also said there is no recourse for people who want to challenge the government’s decision.
“There is no recourse anywhere including the judiciary, there should have been quick recourse to cases against (reading down of) article 370 and CAA,” he said. He cautioned when there is no recourse; people will take to the streets, just as it is happening now. “Look at how the youth are protesting, there is no consultation,” he said.
Sinha, who has been a harsh critic of the government said, the parliamentary processes are no longer being adhered to and said building a new Parliament will not restore its glory but respecting the parliamentary processes and precedences will.
“In the parliamentary system there are standing committees, I was in the one on finance even though I was in the opposition. Ministers were in constant touch with us and told us to make weighted decisions. And many important laws including GST were passed, which was incidentally opposed by the then Gujarat government,” he added.
On the opposition coalition he said, the alliance of disparate parties will not stop here and it is a good sign for democracy. “...I am quite confident that they will stay together and carry the fight forward. In the end we will be successful because the truth is with us,” he said.
Sinha slammed the government’s policy of demonetisation and said it was the “biggest scam of the century, which made all illegal money white.”
The policy he said was responsible for a decline in the economic growth as well. “After 2016, our economic growth has shown a dip annually. If the annual growth rate was above 8%, the year before Covid-19 it fell to 4%,” he said.
The Union government, he said has a poor track record of social justice. “This government believes only in symbolism. 13 were killed in Odisha, to give land to a business house. Was there any action, none,” he said.
Sinha also attacked the BJP and said currently there is no internal democracy in the party. “In many parties internal democracy is fading,” he said adding, that elected governments are now being toppled and there is an attack on constitutional positions.
“When Vajpayee lost the vote of confidence by one vote he walked away… today it is not possible to imagine that the government will fall by a single vote….” he said.
