RAJ KUMAR
Ranchi, July 16: On the final day of his election campaign, opposition presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha met Chief Minister Hemant Soren. He opted not to discuss his discussions about winning support from him and his party in the upcoming presidential race, though.
It was experienced when Sinha during his press conference gave a passing reference to his meeting with the chief minister saying he had ‘gahan chintan’ on state politics but said nothing else on the issue of getting support.
A media person attempted to know regarding this but he parried the question asking the media person to have lunch with him. “Aap Media Se Hai? Khana Khaiye,” he just said in his reply.
Sinha while addressing media persons underlined the importance of the presidential election saying this election is being organised in ‘Asadharan Paristhiti (extraordinary circumstances)’.
Explaining the extraordinary circumstances he said “Prajatantra samaptpray ho gaya hai (democracy is on the verge of extinction).” Further explaining how he said it has become difficult to protest against the government inside and outside the parliament as a list of unparliamentary words have been released by which several those words have been declared unparliamentary which were earlier used to criticise the government.
“Ab aap sarkar ko nikammi aur bhrast nahi kah sakte (Now you cannot the government that it is non-performing and corrupt),” he said before adding that only exercising franchise after five years is not democracy.
Sinha, who served as minister of finance from 1990 to 1991 under prime minister (PM) Chandra Shekhar and again from March 1998 to July 2002 under PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, said everyone including the home minister, cabinet ministers, parliamentarians, party members are frightened in the country due to misuse of ED, CBI and IT.
Sinha, who served as the minister of external affairs from July 2002 until May 2004, said that the present presidential election is not a tussle for identity but a war of ideology in which one group wants to end democracy while another group with which he was associated wants to save the democracy.
Sinha, who was a senior leader of the BJP before he left the party on 21 April 2018, presented the political development of Maharashtra, Goa and Madhya Pradesh as an example to say how democracy is on the verge of extinction.
Asked whether the slogan of tribal identity has put him in trouble, he said the presidential election is not a war of identity before adding that if someone really wants to make the tribes powerful make them prime minister. He said the post of president is a post of sanctity, not a post of power.
Sinha on the occasion said that one should vote in presidential elections on the analysis of personality and the call of their conscience.
Sinha parried reply on dynastic politics. Mocking journalists for the question he said according to him everyone in politics should be of 5 feet 11 inch height.
