Hyderabad: The opposition’s presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha said that he appreciated Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s (KCR) support, and will fight against BJP together with him.
“The presidential elections this time around are special. I read an article by Nobel prize-winner Amartya Sen in the newspaper on my way here which read that the ‘nation is collapsing.’ In every angle, the collapse is plainly visible,” he said.
Sinha, who arrived in the city on Saturday, said that he tried to reach out to Modi over the phone after filing his nomination as the opposition’s presidential candidate. However, Sinha said he was informed that the PM was not available and there has been no response to his call.
Sinha added that initially, there was a chance of consensus regarding the presidential elections. “It was the central government’s responsibility to hold a consensus. But they don’t believe in the idea of a consensus. They only believe in confrontation. They only want to insult other contenders.”
“I want to ask you if this is to be the future of the nation. Will everything be one-sided? Will everyone else be sidelined and disrespected? This election is not a fight between two people. It is a fight of ideologies,” said Sinha.
He said that the Supreme Court yesterday looked into the matter of Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair. “This man has been accused of spreading hate, and he has been jailed. But the BJP’s spokesperson, who spread poison, has not been touched by the law. Will the Prime Minister talk about this subject during his speech in Hyderabad?” he asked.
“PM Modi talks about everything loudly. But he remains silent on this topic. When there was a school shooting in America, he promptly expressed his grief. But in eight years, he has not had the courage to address a single press conference in the country. Is this democracy? That one man will speak and 40 crore people have to listen?” Sinha remarked.
He said when he was Finance Minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s cabinet, he never imagined that the Enforcement Directorate could be used against rivals.
“PM Modi will not answer a single question posed by the CM today. He has no answers. This fight will continue after the elections. I declare today that together with CM KCR, we will fight against the BJP. This country needs leaders like KCR,” he added.
Yashwant Sinha as Opposition’s president candidate
On June 21, Sinha was named as the common candidate of the Opposition for the Presidential elections. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh had made the announcement of his name as the presidential candidate of the opposition during a meeting.
The announcement comes shortly after Sinha hinted that he has accepted the proposal made by a section of Opposition leaders to make him their presidential candidate.
Sinha, who had quit the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2018, joined the TMC last year where he had been working as the party’s vice-president.
NDA presidential candidate Draupadi Murmu filed her nomination for the election on June 24. The election for the office of the President of India is scheduled for July 18 and the counting of votes, if needed, will be done on July 21.
