Yashwant Sinha quits BJP: Former Union minister had a tumultuous relationship with Amit Shah, Narendra Modi

Disgruntled BJP leader Yashwant Sinha announced his resignation from the party and electoral politics saying that he is not happy with the current leadership of the party and the direction in which the Indian politics is headed at the moment. Sinha highlighted several issues with the current government at the Centre and the BJP leadership, including the current Parliament logjam and media censorship while justifying his decision to resign from the party. Addressing a gathering on the first meeting of Rashtra Manch, which he launched in February to highlight farmers issues and unemployment on a national scale, Sinha said, “Democracy is under threat. I won’t sit tight when there is a crisis in the country,” he added. [caption id=“attachment_4440689” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Former Union minister Yashwant Sinha addressing a meet in Patna on Saturday. PTI[/caption] “I end all my ties with the BJP,” said the former Union minister, who held the portfolios of finance ministry and external affairs ministry, adding, “I will not have any ties to party politics. I will not become a member of any other party.” Sinha attacked the Centre on Saturday as well and blamed the government for the logjam during the Budget Session of the Parliament. The senior BJP leadership has had a tumultuous relationship with the current BJP leadership including party president Amit Shah and prime minister Narendra Modi. He had criticised the party’s policies in several occasions, be it the decision to demonetise old notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 in November 2016 , the status of the economy, the functioning of the Parliament as well as the farmers’ issues. In 2017, Sinha had created a political storm with an article claiming that the Indian economy was poised for a hard landing after demonetisation and GST. In February, speaking at the launch of the Rashtra Manch, Sinha had said, “Investigating agencies are being used against people who think differently. Due to this, outside of the BJP, an atmosphere of fear is prevailing in the entire country,” he alleged. The senior BJP leader said the latest Economic Survey referred to unemployment, education-related woes, and farmers’ problems. Again, earlier this week he had written an open letter to BJP MPs asking them to challenge the leadership before the next elections so that corrective measures could be taken. In the past, Sinha had even compared Modi to Mohammad Bin Tughlaq as well as the  eldest Kaurava brother  from the Mahabharatha, Duryodhana, and Shah to Dusshasan. Reacting to his outspoken comments against the BJP leadership, GVL Narasimha Rao had termed him “an ever job-seeking Sinha” glossing over his own performance. “Unlike his claims of being Bhishma, Sinha’s arrogance is akin to Shishupal of Mahabharata. Like Shishupal, whose filthy abuses resulted in meeting his end, Yashwant Sinha’s treacherous activities are reaching the tolerance point,” he said. Launching another attack on the Centre, Sinha on Saturday announced his decision to resign from the party while addressing a gathering in Patna. Blaming the ruling party for the Parliament logjam during the Budget Session, Sinha said, “When Vajpayee was the prime minister, we were all instructed that the Parliament should run. We were told that the Opposition should be given the opportunity to raise whichever issue they want…Did the prime minister ever unite the leaders of the Opposition parties and talk to them? The government is not concerned about this issue. The government was very happy that the Parliament wasn’t running.” Sinha also accused the Central government of using its position to thwart the democratic processes inside the Parliament. “In a democracy, there’s nothing more important than a proposal for confidence or no-confidence in a government. Instead, the Speaker said that she could not count 50 MPs,” he said. Sinha also made a reference to the four dissenting Supreme Court judges press conference on 12 January, in which they talked about various issues with the judiciary while announcing his decision to quit BJP. Eighty-year-old Sinha, who had joined the BJP in the mid-90s, also said that from now, he will try to unite all non-BJP parties, “I will not join any political party and will have nothing to do with party-politics.” “I am not an aspirant for any top post and I am making it clear here that I am not at all interested to seek any post,” he added. Sinha had attended the meeting of the Rashtra Manch on Saturday along with BJP MP Satrughan Sinha, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, Congress leader Renuka Choudhary and AAP leaders Sanjay Singh and Ashutosh. With agency inputs