Thiruvananthapuram, June 29: Yashwant Sinha, the candidate of joint Opposition nominee in the presidential election, on Wednesday said a “thinking and speaking” person should be the resident of Rashtrapati Bhavan and not a rubber stamp.
Criticising the presentation of nomination papers of NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sinha said he presented his papers by himself.
“India needs a Rashtrapati who serves as the impartial custodian of the Constitution and not one who acts as a rubber stamp for the government. The President must have a mind of his/her own and use it conscientiously, without fear or favour, whenever the executive or other institutions of the Republic deviate from the Constitutional principles. It is my solemn assurance to the people of India that I shall serve as a President worthy of the lofty vision of the makers of the Constitution,” Sinha told a meet-the-press programme organised by the Kerala Union of Working Journalists and Kesari Journalists Trust here.
He was in Kerala as part of his campaign to seek support of the leaders and legislators of the ruling LDF and Opposition UDF.
“I am assured by both these formations that they will support me in this election and thereby Kerala becomes one state in the country when the votes cast in the presidential election will be 100 per cent in favour of one candidate and that is me,” Sinha said.
Dismissing the concerns of those who believe that numbers were not in his favour to win the polls, he claimed that it was a developing situation and “you will see a lot of changes between now and 18th of July” — the day when voting takes place.
Asked whether he would be able to get the support of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), which is ruling his home state, in the election, Sinha said his candidature was decided in a meeting attended by the representatives of the JMM.
He expressed confidence that JMM will support him despite the feeling that it may not stand with him because of the certain identity of the ruling party candidate. “I am quite confident that they will ultimately be in my support,” Sinha said.
The joint opposition nominee for the presidential poll also said he was equally confident that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which did not attend the meeting that decided his candidature, will also support him. “I am in touch with them,” he said.
Addressing the media, Sinha, who was Union finance minister in the then Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, criticised the economic policy of the Centre under PM Modi, saying the country’s economy has reached a point of “stagflation” — a situation in which persistent high inflation combines with high unemployment and stagnant demand in a country’s economy.
He alleged that the “silly decision of demonetisation” of the Central government dealt a “body blow” to the economy.
Describing the demonetisation as the “biggest scam” of the century, he alleged that it helped convert all the black money into white.
“In the year of demonetisation six years ago, the Indian economy had a growth rate of over 8 per cent annually. A few years down the line, after demonetisation and before COVID hit the country, it came down to 4 per cent,” Sinha said and blamed the demonetisation decision for the downfall of the economy of the country.
Asked about the political developments in Maharashtra following a group of Shiv Sena MLAs deciding to withdraw their support to the party-led government there, he alleged the BJP was behind all the “mischief which is taking place in that state”.
“It is a BJP conspiracy. It is a Government of India conspiracy,” Sinha alleged. He claimed that the BJP government uses all its might to overturn the verdict of the people.
“What is happening in Maharashtra is a sordid repetition of the story that has taken place in various other states. The BJP government in Delhi uses all its might to overturn the verdict of the people… It is this sordid saga that we are witnessing in Maharashtra,” he said.
The former Union minister also criticised the new Agnipath defence recruitment scheme, brought out by the Union government, and said no necessary consultations were made before going ahead with its introduction.
There are Parliament Standing Committees on defence which were also not consulted, he alleged.
It was all done in a hurry and the result was seen on the ground, he said, mentioning about the country-wide agitations against the scheme. This is not the way to solve the issue of unemployment, he added.
Sinha also condemned the “barbaric” killing of a tailor in Udaipur city of Rajasthan, saying that such instances of violence have no place in a democracy and the perpetrators should be punished as strictly as the law of the land permits.
He also condemned the arrest of Mohammed Zubair, a journalist who co-founded AltNews, saying that the action was taken on a baseless accusation of hurting the religious sentiments of a community.
“Ironically, the arrest happened on a day when India, represented by the Prime Minister, was waxing eloquent in the meeting of G7 in Germany about the need to protect free speech both online and offline,” Sinha said. (PTI)
