Yashwant Sinha quits BJP; says democracy in danger under Modi govt; updates

Yashwant Sinha, a vocal critic of the BJP in its present form, has blamed the Modi government for the Parliament logjam during the Budget session; he has also called Modi 'Tughlaq'

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Yashwant Sinha, who has floated an apolitical front to attack the Modi government, on Saturday quit the party. He announced, “I'm breaking all my relations with BJP now and I'll not take any position in the future."

"I'm not going to join any other political party. I'll set off a strong movement with all my friends and like-minded people in the country to save democracy. Media, too, is being suppressed, under pressure, managed from above. How will the country run in such a situation? My heart beats for the country," he said.

Yashwant Sinha added: "Democracy is under threat and I won't sit tight when there is a crisis". Sinha, who is a vocal critic of the BJP in its present form, blamed the government for the Parliament logjam during the Budget session. On Thursday, BJP's trenchant critic Sinha had announced that he would hold an event with Opposition parties in Patna on April 21 and make a "political announcement".

Yashwant Sinha had been critical of the central government, expressing his views through public events and newspaper columns. In an open letter to BJP MPs published in a daily, Yashwant Sinha on Saturday said, after nearly four years in office, "we seem to have lost our way and the confidence of voters".

Here are the top 10 developments around Yashwant Sinha's exit from the Bharatiya Janata Party and his sharp criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi:

1. Will Yashwant Sinha join another party? Sources said he might formally join forces with the Opposition parties as they work to put up a united front against the BJP. Sinha, however, said he would not join any party.

2. Sinha retiring from party politics: Sinha on Saturday said: "Today I am taking 'sanyas' from any kind of party politics". He also announced he was "breaking all my relations with BJP now and I'll not take any position in the future... I'm not going to join any other political party".

3. Yashwant Sinha met Mamata Banerjee in March: Yashwant Sinha and Shatrughan Sinha met West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, and appreciated her efforts to bring together all regional forces against the Modi government ahead of coming Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. Though Yashwant Sinha did not clarify on whether he or Shatrughan Sinha would join a united force against the BJP, he said, "Mamata is our old cabinet colleague. Her personality is known to everyone. The role she has taken to save the country is appreciable. In future also, we will support her." 

4. Sinha slammed Modi govt for cash crunch: Sinha said the magnitude of the crisis is huge and the Reserve Bank did not have a back up plan to deal with such a situation. "It is a poor currency distribution management," he said in a television interview. The Reserve Bank has laid down certain rules for managing the distribution of currency but obviously the management practices have not measured up to the situation, the BJP leader said. "And they had no back up plan. From the information which is tumbling out everyday, it would appear that not only the crisis is widespread...the magnitude of the crisis is huge," Sinha said.

5. Sinha compares Modi to Tughlaq: Yashwant Sinha said demonetisation had "failed comprehensively", as he compared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to 14th century Delhi Sultanate ruler Muhammad bin Tughlaq.

"I felt pained personally. After 1978 demonetisation, I had brought back the Rs 1,000 note that was abolished. I felt as if my child has been killed. Apart from that, in order to clean up, you introduced Rs 2,000 note?" he said.

6. Sinha earlier said he would not quit BJP: In February, Yashwant Sinha categorically said he would not leave the BJP but said the party could throw him out if it so desired because of his criticism. "Why shall I leave BJP? What this party means to me, (it) possibly does not mean to anyone (else). I have given my blood and sweat for this party. From 2004 to 2014, we were fighting against the then ruling party (Congress).

"Then some others came. But now that they have come, they must deliver on the promises they made. And if they don't, I will raise those issues whether I'm with them or against them," he said.

7. Yashwant Sinha termed Budget a 'jugglery of numbers': He said the government lost an opportunity to provide relief to the poor and the middle class. Sinha said, "The government lost an opportunity to provide relief to the poor and the middle class." Terming the budget "jugglery of numbers", Sinha said the government was simply practising financial engineering.

8. BJP said Yashwant crossed all limits, should quit party: Telangana BJP spokesperson Krishna Sagar Rao said the party strongly believes there is a certain amount of decorum in the way the national party conducts its affairs and "these two leaders have crossed all the limits".

"Being senior leaders, the party does not want to take any disciplinary action against them, but it's bearing on them to resign from the party and do what they want to do," Rao said.

"We believe they (Yashwant Sinha and Shatrughan Sinha) are a spent force. The BJP will not have any issue with what they will do after they leave the BJP," he said.

9. Yashwant backs AAP over MLAs' disqualification: Rebel BJP leaders Yashwant Sinha and Shatrughan Sinha supported Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over disqualification of its 20 MLAs with the former calling the president's decision a "tughlaqshahi" order. BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha said the "politics of vendetta" against the AAP would not last long.

"Politics of vendetta or politics of vested interests just don't last long. Don't worry, be happy!," he said on Twitter. 

10. Yashwant Sinha asks cabinet ministers to 'speak up' like SC judges: Yashwant Sinha asked his party colleagues and ministers to "get rid of their fear" and "speak up for democracy" like the four Supreme Court judges who came out publicly against the chief justice. If Parliament is compromised, the Supreme Court is not in order, then democracy is threatened, he told reporters.

"Every citizen who feels for democracy should speak up. I will ask party (BJP) leaders and senior cabinet ministers to speak up. I will appeal to them to get rid of their fears and speak up," he said. Sinha claimed that he was "personally aware of the fear in which members of the cabinet in this government are working, and that also is a threat to democracy".

About Yashwant Sinha: Yashwant Sinha was the Finance Minister of India (1990–1991 under Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar and March 1998 – July 2002 under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Minister of External Affairs July 2002 – May 2004). He was a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party before he quit the party in April 2018. His son Jayant Sinha, a consultant and investor, won the 2014 elections for the Hazaribagh constituency and is currently serving as Minister of State for Civil Aviation in Narendra Modi's cabinet.

In 2015, in recognition for his contributions to Indo-French relations, Sinha was conferred the Legion of Honor, France's highest civilian honor. Sinha resigned from the Indian Administrative Service in 1984 and joined active politics as a member of the Janata Party. He was appointed All-India General secretary of the party in 1986 and was elected Member of the Rajya Sabha (Upper House of the Indian Parliament) in 1988. He became the National Spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party in June 1996. He was appointed finance minister in March 1998. He was appointed as Minister for External Affairs on 1 July 2002. In the Lok Sabha elections of 2004, he was defeated in Hazaribagh Constituency. He re-entered the Parliament in 2005. On 13 June 2009, he resigned from the post of vice-president of BJP.