New Delhi: Former union minister Yashwant Singh’s name has been proposed by seventeen major Opposition parties as their joint candidate for the presidential polls. The election for the office of the president of India is scheduled for July 18 and counting will be done on July 21.
This announcement came soon after he declared his resignation from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) party “for a larger national cause.”
He tweeted, “I am grateful to (TMC president) Mamata Banerjee for the honour and prestige she bestowed on me in the TMC. Now the 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.”
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
Who is Yashwant Singh?
Yashwant Singh’s professional life has been a rollercoaster ride from the Indian Administrative Services (IAS) to the Janata Party, then the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and then slipping into oblivion. Although he served in several ministries, finance was known to be his field.
During the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), he became the Union finance minister in the first full-term government which took place in 1998. Prior to that, he held a portfolio in Chandra Shekhar’s Cabinet as well (from November 1990 to June 1991). Later, he was the finance minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s first three years terms.
During his finance minister times, he broke the colonial-era tradition of presenting Union Budgets in the evening. For the first time in the 1998-1999 Budget session, the budget was presented in the morning and the practice has been followed since then.
Besides, he was credited for boosting the funding of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) through a petroleum cess. This helped in pushing the construction of highways across India and starts the ambitious Golden Quadrilateral project. During his tenure, he also deregularised the petroleum industry and helped the telecom industry expand. He has elaborated on his stint as the finance minister in his book ‘Confessions of a Swadeshi Reformer.’
Being a major critic of Narendra Modi and his policies, Singh resigned from BJP on April 21, 2018.
On the other hand, Yashwant Singh joined active politics as a member of the Janata Party after resigning from the IAS in 1984. He has been appointed as the party’s all-India general secretary in 1986 and was elected a member of the Rajya Sabha in 1988. With Janata Dal being formed in 1989, Singh, a founding member, was appointed as the party’s general secretary. Later, he joined the BJP and held important portfolios in the Vajpayee government.
Moreover, Yashwant Singh joined the Trinomool Congress last year.
