Yashwant Sinha to launch 'Rashtra Manch' today, Trinamool MP joins him

Senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha, who has turned a strong critic of the central government, will on Tuesday launch 'Rashtra Manch' (national forum), a body, he said, for political leaders and others "concerned" with the prevailing situation in the country.

Trinamool Congress MP Dinesh Trivedi said he would also join it. There is also speculation about a disgruntled MP of the ruling alliance joining it.

Asked about others who would join him, Sinha said it would be disclosed tomorrow but added that they would join the forum in their individual capacity to air their concern over the current situation.

"The forum is for leaders who are concerned with the prevailing situation in the country," he said.

Sinha, the former minister in the NDA government headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee cabinet, has often criticised the incumbent government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi over a host of issues, including its economic policy and the recent judicial crisis.

"Whatever you do, I will not run away from my duties. Calling the youth of the country to join the movement," he said in a tweet.

The development is likely to be seen as an attempt to step up an attack against the government and to build an atmosphere against the BJP-led NDA in the countdown to the next Lok Sabha polls, scheduled in the first half of the next year.