KOLKATA, March 13:  With just a few weeks remaining ahead of the crucial West Bengal Assembly elections, former veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Union Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha on Saturday joined the Trinamool Congress at its party headquarters in Kolkata.

The octogenarian had quit the BJP in April 2018.

Speaking to the media, Sinha said that the country is currently going through an extraordinary time which forced him to return to politics.

“You must be surprised why am I joining a party and turning active, especially at this age when I’d distanced myself from mainstream politics a few years ago. I would like to say that the country is going through an extraordinary situation…It is unprecedented… The strength of democracy lies in the strength of the institutions of democracy,” he said.

He joined his new party at the Trinamool Bhawan here in the presence of Trinamool Congress’ Lok Sabha leader Sudip Bandopadhyay, Rajya Sabha leader Derek O’Brien and state panchayat minister Subrata Mukherjee.

“We are extremely glad to receive such an illustrious politician like Yashwant Sinha in the Trinamool Congress. Today we are feeling proud that on one hand we have a leader like Mamata Banerjee and on the other we have such senior politician like Yashwant Sinhaji,” said Subrata Mukherjee.

The former Union minister also said that all these institutions including the judiciary have become weak now.
IANS