'I urge the BJP candidate to...': Yashwant Sinha vows he will not be govt's 'rubber stamp' President

Since being announced as the joint's opposition candidate, the former Union minister and ex-BJP leader has repeatedly stressed he would not be a ‘mute spectator’.

Ahead of the upcoming presidential elections, Yashwant Sinha, the joint opposition's candidate, on Monday urged Droupadi Murmu, the nominee of the BJP-led ruling NDA, to make a pledge that if victorious, she won't be a ‘rubber stamp’ of the ruling dispensation.

Yashwant Sinha (File Photo/PTI)

“To ensure a better future of all Indians, the Rashtrapati must work conscientiously,” Sinha wrote on Twitter.

The former Union minister then pledged that if elected as President, he would be an ‘impartial custodian’ of the Constitution, and not a ‘rubber stamp’ of the Union government.

Since his candidature was announced, the former BJP leader-turned-bitter critic of the party under prime minister Narendra Modi, has repeatedly stressed that as President, he would resist the Modi government's ‘authoritarianism’ and ‘assault’ on the Constitution, and that he would not be a ‘rubber stamp’ in the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Though the President of India is the highest constitutional office in the country, successive incumbents have been accused of ‘favouring’ the government of the day. This is because he/she is ‘nominated’ by the central government, and also because as the executive, it is the ruling dispensation which exercises the real authority.

The incumbent, Ram Nath Kovind, too, has been frequently accused of being a ‘puppet’ of the present regime. Murmu, widely expected to succeed him in the chair, is already being subjected to taunts in this regard.

The polls to elect the 15th First Citizen will be held on July 18. Counting of votes, if required, will be conducted on July 21.