Former finance minister and veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Yashwant Sinha announced that he quit from the Bharatiya Janata Party in Patna on 21 April to ‘save democracy’. Sinha said:
Today I am taking ‘sanyas’ from any kind of party politics. I am ending all ties with the BJP. We don’t intend to introduce a political party. But the current state of affairs is worrisome. In the future, nobody should say we did not take action.Yashwant Sinha, former BJP leader
In January, Sinha launched the Rashtra Manch for politicians across party lines to galvanise support against the Centre. Sinha announced his resignation at a manch meeting in SK Memorial Hall in Pune, saying, “We do not intend to turn this platform into a political party. However, if we do not speak up against the current situation prevailing in the country, the upcoming generation will hold us accountable." He was joined by actor and BJP leader Shatrugan Sinha.
Hours after Sinha’s resignation, Shatrugan Sinha dared the ruling party to take action against him if it wants to, but made it clear he wouldn’t resign from its membership on his own.
Shatrughan Sinha has been at loggerheads with the current BJP leadership since the 2015 Bihar elections. He has often taken a stance at variance with the official party line, including on demonetisation, implementation of the GST, and on the Union government’s policy on Kashmir.
"I heard that the party is contemplating to take action against me since the Bihar Assembly polls, but they did not take action. Are they so helpless that they will look for a muhurat to expel (me)?" the Patna Saheb lawmaker said.
Sinha kept up his criticism of the government. He criticised the poor functioning of the recent parliamentary sessions on account of the Gujarat elections. “For the first time in history, a parliamentary session was cut short due to election in a particular state. There hasn’t been a session shorter than the recent winter session,” adding, “I have also been a part of the NDA government, and when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the prime minister, it was his order that the parliament function at all times,” Sinha said.
Actor and BJP leader Shatrughan Sinha backed Sinha up. He said, “These are not anti-party activities. This is your loyalty towards your country because a party is bigger than an individual and a country is bigger than a party.”
Commenting on the event, BJP spokesperson Anil Baluni said:
Yashwant Sinha has formally quit the BJP today. However, his latest viewpoints as well as interviews on TV channels did indicate that he was no more a BJP member rather a puppet of the Congress. Though he has quit today, in his mind he had left the party long ago.
(The Quint is now on WhatsApp. To receive handpicked stories on topics you care about, subscribe to our WhatsApp services. Just go to TheQuint.com/WhatsApp and hit send)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)