Yashwant Sinha holds meet in Mumbai to ‘save democracy’

A state level core committee was formed under social activist Sudheendra Kulkarni to work out the modalities to protect the institutions of democracy which are under threat.

Senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha on Saturday met politicians and prominent persons from various walks of life in Mumbai to chalk out a programme to target Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s policies which are harming the democratic institutions in the country.

BJP leader Yashwant Sinha along with others at the meet on Saturday in Mumbai. (Kunal Patil/HT Photo)

The meeting, held under the banner of Rashtra Manch, was attended by former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, Congress MP Kumar Ketkar, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MP Majeed Memon, Bharatiya Janata Party (BP) dissident MLA Ashish Deshmukh and activists like Abha Singh among others. A state level core committee was formed under social activist Sudheendra Kulkarni to work out the modalities to protect the institutions of democracy which are under threat.

A series of agitations, including a silent march at Kolhapur on May 1, a farmers’ march ar Akola on April 7, and a rally at August Kranti Maidan in south Mumbai have been planned.

According to Majeed Menon, the whole initiative is to bring the non-BJP parties and like-minded people under one banner. He said, “The Modi government is sparing no efforts to destroy various institutions like the judiciary, the media and the election commission. This forum has been formed to save them,” said Menon. Prithviraj Chavan said, “If these forces are not stopped, 2019 might be the last general elections in India,” said Chavan.

Rashtra Manch is a non-political outfit formed on January 30 by Sinha, a bitter critic of Modi.