Sinha told the media: “Why am I joining a political party trying to be active in politics? The country is going through a transition period; it is a very important time for our country. The values which were almost unshakeable are being disregarded today. The strengths of any democracy lies in the strengths of its institutions.
Yashwant Sinha (File Photo: IANS)
Former Union finance minister Yashwant Sinha on Saturday joined the Trinamul Congress in the presence of Lok Sabha leader Sudip Bandopadhyay, Rajya Sabha leader Derek O’Brien and Bengal’s minister for panchayat and rural affairs Subrata Mukherjee at Trinamul Bhavan.
Before officially joining the Trinamul Congress, Sinha went to Mamata Banerjee’s house at Kalighat and spent 45 minutes with the chief minister. After joining Trinamul, Sinha said: “Our country is passing through a serious phase and democracy of people is being compromised. Questions are being raised why after so many years, today I have joined the TMC.”
While recalling the Kandahar hijacking of an Air India plane on 24 December, 1999, Sinha said Mamata, then a rail minister in the Atal Behari Vajpayee government, had offered to go as a hostage in exchange for lives of the passengers.
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Sinha told the media: “Why am I joining a political party trying to be active in politics? The country is going through a transition period; it is a very important time for our country. The values which were almost unshakeable are being disregarded today. The strengths of any democracy lies in the strengths of its institutions.
The democratic stature of our republic is in danger. Today, almost every institution of democracy has become weakened and unfortunately, the judiciary is also among them.”
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