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Tag: Yashwant Sinha

  • Yashwant Sinha quits TMC, says time to work for greater Opposition unity

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: TMC leader Yashwant Sinha on Tuesday said that he will “step aside” from the party to work for the larger national cause of greater Opposition unity.

    The former Union minister’s announcement came amid speculation that his name will be pitched by TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as the joint opposition candidate for the upcoming presidential elections.

    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
    “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,” Sinha said in a tweet.

    Opposition parties are set to meet in Delhi on Tuesday to decide on their joint candidate for the presidential polls scheduled on July 18.

  • PM Modi should mediate between Russia and Ukraine to make India ‘vishwaguru’: Yashwant Sinha

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: “India’s foreign policy has been individualized as Modi’s foreign policy, which may have a disastrous fallout for the country,” said former External Affairs Minister and now vice-president of the All India Trinamool Congress Yashwant Sinha amid Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. He also proposed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi act as a mediator between the two warring nations to end the military conflict.

    Speaking to The New Indian Express, Sinha said, “Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi boasts, more often than not, of making the country ‘vishwaguru’. Now, with the Russian military invasion of Ukraine, it’s the right time for the Prime Minister to step in as a mediator to end the ongoing bloody conflict and show the potential to become vishwaguru.”

    Reacting against India’s move to abstain from voting against Russia in the UNSC, Sinha said that such an ‘imprudent’ decision by the Modi-led government may isolate the country during challenging times in the future.

    ALSO READ: ‘Indians pushed out of trains, bunkers in Ukraine’: Karnataka student appeals for help

    “As a fallout of this, India may not get support of other countries if the Chinese challenge us,” Sinha remarked.

    “The UN has lost its élan. It is each one for itself. India should be prepared to meet the Chinese challenges because nobody will come to our help in case of hostilities,” he cautioned, speaking in the context of India’s decision not to vote against Russia in the UNSC recently.

    The bureaucrat-turned-politician further said, “A point to ponder is what would a much-maligned Nehru have done today in the Ukraine crisis?”

    Describing the US-dominated NATO as an ‘ineffective and paper tiger’ amid the Russia-Ukraine crisis, Sinha said, “After Afghanistan and now Ukraine, the US has been proven as not a dependable ally. India should take a lesson from these two situations and beware. India claims to be a friend of Russia, so it should immediately start mediating to end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. What is the meaning of friendship if one friend cannot tell the other how wrong he is?” Sinha asked.

    Sinha added that democracies were made weak and ineffectual globally while autocracies have gone on the rampage.

    On being asked about a potential move to form a Third Front, Sinha categorically said, “Any Third Front would not be very helpful to the opposition.” Lashing out at the BJP, Sinha said the divide and rule policy of the central government is not only creating a division in society but also creating an atmosphere against the Constitution and social fabric of the country.

  • Trinamool Congress leader Yashwant Sinha sniffs ‘dictatorship’ in BJP’s ‘double engine’ talks

    By PTI

    PANAJI: Trinamool Congress (TMC) vice-president Yashwant Sinha on Monday dubbed the BJP’s oft-repeated phrase ‘double engine governments’ as a way to promote “dictatorship”.

    The former Union minister assured that pre-poll promises made by the TMC in Goa would be implemented if the Mamata Banerjee-led party comes to power in the coastal state after the February 14 assembly polls.

    Talking to reporters here, the bureaucrat-turned-politician said, “Sometimes in ‘double engine governments’, it is possible that one engine goes in one direction, and the other in another direction. On a serious note, I want to mention that if the central government of the BJP is trying to emphasize on wanting to run double engine governments then all they want is to run a dictatorship.”

    He said insisting on ‘double engine’ means the BJP does not want any other party to come to power in states and form government. “Today, they are talking about double engines with respect to state governments, tomorrow they will talk about triple engine with respect to panchayats. How will this work?” he questioned.

    As part its ‘double engine’ campaign narrative, BJP leaders appeal to voters to select the same party (BJP or the alliance led by it, NDA) in poll-bound states as the one ruling at the Centre to ensure better development of their states.

    Sinha said the TMC’s pre-poll assurances in Goa are doable and the party will implement them when voted to power. The TMC has forged an alliance with Goa’s oldest regional party MGP for the assembly polls. “It is my personal assurance that the pre-poll promises made by the TMC in Goa would be implemented,” he said.

    Three welfare schemes announced by the TMC – targeted at different sections of the society, including women and youth – will be implemented as soon as the party forms a government in Goa, Sinha said.

    The former Union finance minister said these schemes – Griha Laxmi, Yuva Shakti and Mhaje Ghar, Maalki Hakk (My Home, My right) – can be funded with government money and implemented with proper fiscal management.

    Sinha said these welfare schemes together will cost the government around Rs 3,300 crore annually and they can be implemented without imposing any additional tax on people or borrowing funds from the market.

    “In terms of the norms which have been fixed by the Finance Commission and the Reserve Bank of India, Goa already has an additional fiscal space of Rs 2,100 crore. So, that leaves us with Rs 1,200 crore (more), and in a (state) budget of Rs 25,000 crore, this amount can easily be allotted and spent on these welfare schemes,” he added.

  • Trinamool leader Yashwant Sinha admitted to hospital with severe back pain

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: Former Union minister and Trinamool Congress leader Yashwant Sinha was admitted at the state-run SSKM hospital here after he complained of severe back pain, hospital sources said on Wednesday.

    The octogenarian politician was taken to the SSKM hospital on Tuesday where he is undergoing treatment at the Woodburn Block, they said.

    A team of four doctors is supervising the treatment of 84-year-old Sinha who is “at the moment a bit better”, they said.

    “He is better now. We are keeping a constant watch on him,” a senior doctor of the SSKM Hospital said.

  • Covid relief packages failed to revive economy: Yashwant Sinha

    By Express News Service

    KOCHI: Though Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman announced two Covid relief packages valued at Rs 44 lakh crore to revive the economy, the kind of investment that is required in the current Covid situation is not coming, former Union finance minister and Trinamool Congress leader Yashwant Sinha has said.

    While interacting with mediapersons on Saturday ahead of the programme ‘India Forward’ — a virtual talk series organised by Cochin Chamber of Commerce and Industry Sinha, a former BJP leader, said the Indian economy has been devastated due to the wrong policies of demonetisation and faulty implementation of GST.  

    The repeal of the three farm laws is a very calculated political move by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sinha said. “Elections to five states are round the corner and UP is very important to BJP, and so is Punjab. The farmers in these states, in particular in UP and Punjab, were up in arms against the laws. 

    The government has learned that the protests were going to impact their prospects in the upcoming elections. BJP is today a party of ‘election jivis’,” he said. The situation would change with the repeal of the farm laws and it is premature to predict the outcome of the forthcoming elections in the five states, Sinha added.

  • Concerned Citizens Group demands judicial probe into civilian killings in Hyderpora encounter

    By PTI

    SRINAGAR: The Concerned Citizens Group (CCG) led by former Union finance minister Yashwant Sinha on Friday expressed deep anguish at the civilian killings in the Hyderpora encounter and called for a judicial inquiry under the supervision of the Supreme Court in order to “uncover the truth” and restore people’s confidence in the rule of law.

    “The government’s explanation about the Hyderpora incident is as clear as mud and complicates the issue further. The governor’s decision to order a magisterial enquiry is nothing more than an eyewash,” the CCG said in a statement.

    It said the magisterial enquiry should immediately be replaced by a judicial enquiry under the supervision of the Supreme Court in order to “uncover the truth and restore people’s confidence in the rule of law”.

    ​ALSO READ | Gupkar Alliance writes to President, seeks judicial probe into Hyderpora encounter

    “We also demand that the inquiry should be completed expeditiously. In the meanwhile, those guilty of perpetrating it should be placed under suspension. We appeal to Members of Parliament to visit J-K as soon as possible and raise this issue in the ensuing session of Parliament,” it said.

    Apart from Sinha, the members of the group comprise executive secretary, Centre for Dialogue and Reconciliation, Delhi; Sushobha Barve, former chairman of the Minorities Commission; first Chief Information Commissioner of India Wajahat Habibullah; Vice Marshal (retd) Kapil Kak and former editor and independent journalist Bharat Bhushan.

    The statement said in its nine reports prepared after visits to Jammu and Kashmir since 2016, the group has been emphasising the need for a political and not a military solution to the issue of J-K, as indeed many others including military commanders familiar with the situation have been doing.

    ​ALSO READ | Influential civil society group calls for judicial probe into Hyderpora encounter

    “We have also emphasised that a political solution can come only out of a dialogue with all stakeholders. But our pleas have fallen on deaf ears. The government of India has tried everything from an extended governor’s rule to constitutional changes but nothing has worked for the simple reason that the people of J-K have not been taken into confidence,” it said.

    The killings of civilians have demonstrated that the situation on the ground “is far from normal” as claimed by the government from time to time, the statement said.

    “Incidents, such as the killing of innocent civilians, are bound to exacerbate it further,” it added.

    The group also condemned the statement of Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat endorsing the demand for the public lynching of terrorists.

    “It shows that Gen Rawat has no use for the laws of the country and believes only in jungle raj. He must immediately withdraw this statement and apologise for it,” the CCG said.

  • Imperative to keep nation’s sentiments high to have good economic growth: Yashwant Sinha

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: It is imperative to keep the sentiments of the nation high in order to have a good economic growth, former Union Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha said on Saturday.

    Participating in a virtual session at the Indian Student Parliament, Sinha also said that a modern economy runs on sentiments as sentiments govern consumption and determine demands “It is not unusual for the economy to rise or fall. In a globally entwined economy, we cannot divorce ourselves from the global factors. We need to keep non-economic extraneous factors in the record as well,” he said.

    “The modern economy also runs on sentiments as sentiments govern consumption and determine demands. So, if society’s sentiments are down, consumption decreases which affects the economy negatively,” Sinha, who is the vice president of All India Trinamool Congress (AITC), said.

    He noted that sentiments of people and economy go “hand in hand”.

    CEO and MD of the Bombay Stock Exchange Ashish Kumar Chauhan and BJD MLA Souvic Biswal were also present.

    “Any country or society becomes prosperous or developed by creating new technology and not by sticking to old thought processes. We can only be world leaders by being materially successful and not by spiritual success. This fast-moving wave of technology will take us towards further development,” said Chauhan.

  • Yashwant Sinha, other eminent persons urge Centre to not let parties use Afghan crisis to polarise society

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Expressing concern over the situation in Afghanistan, a group of eminent persons, including former ministers K Natwar Singh, Yashwant Sinha and Mani Shankar Aiyar, on Wednesday urged the government to continue engaging with the Taliban and not allow any political party to use the developments in that country to communally polarise Indian society for electoral gains.

    In a statement, the group, under the banner ‘Indian friends of Afghanistan’, said as the Afghans seek to embark on a path of peace, national reconciliation and national reconstruction, Indians stand in solidarity with them.

    The group said the people of India stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of Afghanistan in these difficult times and asserted that the proud, patriotic and brave people of Afghanistan have defeated every invading army and continue to fight forces of extremism and terrorism.

    The statement has been issued collectively by former external affairs ministers Singh and Sinha, as well as former diplomat and Congress leader Aiyar, retired IPS officer Julio Rebeiro, former IAS officer and an ex-vice chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia Najeeb Jung, Afghan expert Vedpratap Vaidik, senior journalist Saeed Naqvi, former diplomat K C Singh, social activist Sandeep Pandey, former Rajya Sabha member Majeed Memon and Forum for a New South Asia founder Sudheendra Kulkarni.

    ALSO READ | Qatar urges Taliban to ensure ‘safe passage’ out of Afghanistan for those wanting to leave

    The group has appealed to the Indian government that India should continue to engage with the Taliban.

    “We welcome the government’s first official acknowledgement of its engagement with the Taliban in Doha and the positive assurances given by the latter,” it said.

    There should be no discrimination on grounds of religion in providing shelter to Afghans who have been forced to leave their country, the signatories to the statement said.

    They called for India to permit temporary stay to Afghan journalists, artists and civil society leaders who are feeling threatened by the conditions in their country.

    “No political party should be allowed to use the developments in Afghanistan to communally polarise Indian society for electoral gains and any such attempts should be dealt with sternly,” the group said in its appeal to the government.

    The group asserted that freedom is an inalienable right of every nation — small or big, poor or rich, and sovereignty of every nation is inviolable, and forms the key principle of international law and the basis of global stability.

    “We welcome the complete withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.

    However, the unplanned manner of its execution created conditions of avoidable chaos.

    The chaotic circumstances emboldened certain terrorist groups to kill innocent Afghans and foreigners,” the group said.

    “We strongly condemn the barbaric suicide attacks in Kabul on August 26, in which scores of Afghans and over a dozen American soldiers lost their lives,” it said.

    As friends of Afghanistan, “we are deeply concerned” over the current situation in that country, the signatories said.

    All the countries in South Asia, especially India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, should strive to make it a region of peace, harmony and collective progress, the statement said.

    In its statement, the group also appealed to the Taliban and other political forces in Afghanistan that the country needs an inclusive government that facilitates national reconciliation after four long decades of wars and violence.

    “Therefore, we appeal to the Taliban (which are in near-total control of the country) and other political forces to begin an intra-Afghan peace process leading to a democratic governing establishment,” the group said.

    It said such an establishment should ensure that no terrorist organisation has a sanctuary in Afghanistan and that its territory is not used for terrorist and extremist activities targeting any country in the world, near or far.

    The establishment in Afghanistan should guarantee the safety and security of every Afghan citizen regardless of their ethnicity, ideology or past political background, as well as guarantee the safety, dignity and rights of women, the group said.

    The signatories urged the new establishment that would be formed to protect Hindus, Sikhs and other non-Muslim minorities, and facilitate the dignified return of those who were forced to leave their country.

    Such an establishment should also safeguard and continue the developmental projects undertaken by India in Afghanistan, the group said.

    It also appealed to the international community that no country in the region should be excluded from, nor isolate itself from, collaborative efforts to bring peace in Afghanistan and promote national reconciliation and national reconstruction.

    This requires India, Pakistan, China, Russia, Iran and other countries to evolve and implement a common strategy, in cooperation with the United Nations, the US, the EU and other members of the international community, the group said.

    The signatories said that providing humanitarian aid and assistance to Afghanistan is an immediate and common responsibility of the international community.

    “All members of the international community should together shoulder the responsibility of rebuilding Afghanistan’s war-damaged economy and creating livelihoods for its people,” they said.

    “Multilateral regional forums such as SCO (in which both India and Pakistan are members) and SAARC (of which Afghanistan is also a member) should actively work for peace in Afghanistan and stability in South Asia and Central Asia,” the statement said.

    ALSO WATCH:

  • India should be ‘open-minded’ about dealing with Taliban: Former external affairs minister Yashwant Sinha 

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Former external affairs minister Yashwant Sinha on Tuesday said India should be “open-minded” about dealing with the Taliban and suggested that it should open its embassy in Kabul and send back the ambassador.

    Noting that the people of Afghanistan have great love for India while Pakistan is not popular among them, Sinha told PTI in an interview that the Indian government should not conclude that the Taliban will place itself “in Pakistan’s lap” as every country furthers its own interests.

    As a big country, India should approach the issues of the Taliban with a degree of confidence and should not indulge in a “widow’s wail” as if Pakistan has taken over Afghanistan or has an advantage over it, he added.

    That the Taliban now controls most of Afghanistan is a reality, Sinha said, adding that India should adopt “wait and watch” mode and be in no hurry either to recognise or to dismiss its regime.

    The Taliban swept across Afghanistan this month, seizing control of almost all key Afghan towns and cities in the country following the withdrawal of the US forces from the country.

    Kabul also fell to the Taliban on Sunday after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani left the country for an unknown destination.

    “It appears on the face of it that the Taliban of 2021 is not the same Taliban of 2001. There appears to be some difference. They are making mature statements. That is something we have to take note of,” Sinha said.

    “I am not saying that take their statements at face value but I will also suggest that they should not be dismissed off-hand because of their past behaviour. We have to look at present and future,” he added.

    Sinha was the foreign minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government but became a critic of the Modi government and quit the BJP.

    He is currently vice president in the Trinamool Congress.

    He said India should have waited instead of immediately closing its embassy and evacuating its people after the extremist Islamist organisation captured Kabul.

    India on Tuesday rushed back home its ambassador Rudrendra Tandon and staff from the embassy in Kabul in a military transport aircraft following escalating tension, fear and uncertainty gripping the Afghan capital after the Taliban insurgents seized the Afghan capital on Sunday.

    This policy needs to have a second look, Sinha said, noting that the Taliban is holding talks with former Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai, who took office after the US-led forces had toppled the previous Taliban regime after the 9/11 terror attack, and its former CEO Abdullah Abdullah.

    It could not have been imagined earlier, Sinha said.

    He added, “India should immediately open its embassy in Kabul and send back the ambassador.”

    “We must remember that the people of Afghanistan have great love for India. Pakistan is not popular with the people of Afghanistan, India is. That we must remember. Our development works have also been appreciated,” he said.

    Organisations dubbed as terror groups have occupied the highest offices in the past and have changed, he noted, saying that India should wait to see how the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan pans out.

    To dismiss always is to turn your face from reality, he said.

     

  • Yashwant Sinha’s Rashtra Manch demands restoration of statehood to J&K by year-end

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Rashtra Manch, a political action group established by former Union minister Yashwant Sinha, on Wednesday demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech should announce that full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir would be restored by year-end.

    In a statement, the forum said it is seriously concerned over the situation following the “questionable actions” of the Union government on August 5, 2019 when it annulled provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution, which provided a special status to Jammu and Kashmir, and bifurcated it into two Union territories — Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

    “These actions, and the utterly undemocratic manner in which they were taken, have caused a deep sense of hurt, humiliation and betrayal in the minds of the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” said the Rashtra Manch, whose convenors are Shahid Siddiqui and Sudheendra Kulkarni.

    The Modi government took these decisions without any consultation with the people, it alleged.

    Lakhs of youth have lost employment and there has been a worrisome increase in suicides among young people, it claimed.

    The Rashtra Manch also alleged that all the rationalisations given by the government to justify its drastic actions and all the promises of ushering in a ‘Naya Jammu and Kashmir’ have proved to be “hollow”.

    The forum demanded that the prime minister should announce in his speech on Independence Day that full statehood would be restored to Jammu and Kashmir before the end of 2021.

    It also demanded that the prime minister should announce in his speech that free and fair elections would be held soon after the restoration of full statehood and the delimitation exercise in Jammu and Kashmir would be deferred, and held along with other states in India.

    The Rashtra Manch also urged the prime minister to state in his speech that no steps shall be taken to alter the demographic profile of Jammu and Kashmir.

    Noting that the constitutional validity of the repeal of Article 370 is currently before the Supreme Court, it urged the apex court to expedite hearing on it and give its verdict soon.

    The Rashtra Manch asserted that separatism, terrorism and communal politics are common enemies, which must be fought unitedly.

    “Jammu and Kashmir is a border state. It directly bears the brunt of any deterioration in India’s relations with two large neighbours — Pakistan and China. The ongoing developments in Afghanistan are also a matter of grave concern, since these could have a negative effect on peace in Jammu and Kashmir,” the forum said.

    Therefore, the government must act with extreme care so as to prevent anti-India forces from exploiting the situation of ‘Dil ki Doori’ and ‘Dilli ki Doori’, it said.

    “We appeal to the leaders of all non-BJP parties to show solidarity with the legitimate democratic demands and aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir both inside and outside Parliament,” the Rashtra Manch said.

    Sinha, who held the finance and external affairs portfolios in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government and joined the TMC earlier this year, has been severely critical of the Narendra Modi dispensation’s policies.

    Former BJP leader Sinha had in 2018 launched the political action group — Rashtra Manch — bringing together politicians across party lines to take on the Centre.