Presidential polls: TMC's Yashwant Sinha is Opposition's pick for president
What's the story
Leaders of the Opposition parties, including the Congress, Samajwadi Party, and Trinamool Congress (TMC), among others, met on Tuesday afternoon and finalized the name of TMC leader Yashwant Sinha as their joint nominee for the successor of President Ram Nath Kovind. This comes after three probable Opposition candidates—Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Farooq Abdullah, and Sharad Pawar—declined to contest the presidential elections due on July 18.
Context
Why does this story matter?
Last week, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee convened a meeting of the Opposition leaders—attended by 17 parties—to pick a presidential candidate against the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance's nominee. However, the decision was stuck in limbo after Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Pawar declined their offer. Thereafter, J&K National Conference chief Abdullah and former West Bengal Governor Gandhi had also turned down the offer.
Proposal
TMC proposed Sinha's name
Subsequently, the TMC proposed Sinha's name. Parties that attended the Tuesday meeting include the Congress, NCP, TMC, CPI, CPI-M, Samajwadi Party, National Conference, AIMIM, RJD, and AIUDF. Meanwhile, the TRS, BJD, AAP, SAD, and YSRCP skipped the meeting. Congress leader and former Union minister Jairam Ramesh confirmed that they had unanimously picked Sinha as the common candidate for the presidential election.
Union minister
Sinha quit BJP in 2018, joined TMC in 2021
To recall, Sinha quit the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2018 and joined the TMC in 2021. He is a retired IAS officer and served as the Union Finance Minister and then as the External Affairs Minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government. The TMC appointed him as the party's national vice president before the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections.
Greater national role
Sinha's tweet sparked fresh speculations
Earlier on Tuesday, a cryptic tweet by Sinha fueled speculations that he may indeed be the Opposition's nominee for the post. Sinha wrote, "I am grateful to Mamataji for the honor and prestige she bestowed on me in the TMC. Now a time has come when for a larger national cause I must step aside from the party to work for greater opposition unity."
Twitter Post
Check out Sinha's tweet
I am grateful to Mamataji for the honour and prestige she bestowed on me in the TMC. Now a time has come when for a larger national cause I must step aside from the party to work for greater opposition unity. I am sure she approves of the step.
— Yashwant Sinha (@YashwantSinha) June 21, 2022
Key meeting
BJP also likely to pick presidential candidate today
Separately, Union Ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh and BJP chief JP Nadda met Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu ahead of a key BJP meeting on presidential polls on Tuesday. The BJP has formed a 14-member management team to oversee the election and Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat is the convenor of this unit. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will most likely join the meeting virtually.