New Delhi: After a decades-long political career, former Union Minister Yashwant Sinha has been fielded as the joint opposition candidate for the upcoming presidential elections to be held next month. Sinha's tenure as an IAS officer to a political leader from Janta Dal to BJP and then to TMC has been full of ups and downs. Lately, he has been among the most vociferous critics of the Narendra Modi Government.
In an exclusive interview with ETV Bharat's Saurabh Sharma, Sinha talks about the ideological battle, his political and administrative career, and how he perceives the nomination of his rival Draupadi Murmu, the presidential candidate BJP-led NDA nominated on Tuesday.
Here are the excerpts from the interview:
ETB: The NDA is just one percent short of the 50 percent vote it requires for its candidate to win the presidential elections, how do you plan to capitalize on the situation and win the support of parties in Bihar, Jharkhand, and Odisha?
Sinha: We have a strategy but I cannot disclose this strategy to the media as it will not remain a strategy then. But we have worked out a strategy and I see no reason for any disappointment.
ETB: Have you spoken to the Chief Ministers of Bihar, Jharkhand, and Odisha?
Sinha: Well a lot of people are speaking to them on my behalf. I haven't spoken to them yet.
ETB: What's your plan for the Presidential campaign right after you'll file your nomination? From where will you start your campaign?
Sinha: I'll start my campaign from Bihar. But whether I'll visit Bihar before filing my nomination or after I'll file my nomination is something that we are discussing. From Bihar, I'll travel to Jharkhand. I'll visit all the states.
ETB: In your statement after you held your first meeting, you highlighted that it's not between you and her (Draupadi Murmu) but it's a battle of ideology?
Sinha: It's very simple. Some people are saying that there is a woman against you and she hails from a tribal community too and that she is drawing a lot of sympathies. But my response to such statements is that nobody controls one's worth, nobody determines for instance that I'll be born into this family or in this community. So I didn't determine that I was born into this family and neither had she (Draupadi Murmu).
And that is not the issue. The issue is of the welfare of the people and the advancement of the weaker section which includes SC, ST, women, and other weaker sections. And my answer to this question is that in my tenure, as finance minister, in the five budgets that I presented I've taken good care of the SC, and ST population of this country. I've always come out with welfare measures.
Also read: NDA's presidential candidate Draupadi Murmu meets PM Narendra Modi
Then, the Vajpayee government created a whole new ministry of North-Eastern affairs. And the entire Northeast is largely tribals as we all know and that was the approach of our government. So nobody can accuse me of not doing anything for tribal people when we were in power. I have been a Sub-Divisional Magistrate in Giri, a tribal district in Bihar. I started my IAS career in Bihar in this district and I worked for their welfare in my capacity.
Then, I worked as Deputy Commissioner in a district called Santhal Pargana which is now in Jharkhand. So my whole career profile as an IAS and as a political leader is in the public domain. Again when I was principal secretary to Karpuri Thakur and Ramsundar Das, I worked a lot for the lower strata. As an IAS and as a political leader, I worked with the tribals and used to eat with them.
I would like the candidate in front of me to publish her records in the public domain on the kind of work that she has done for the lower strata including the tribals. How has she helped the people belonging to her community and other weaker sections? She was a minister in Odisha and was a Governor in Jharkhand as well.
ETB: India never had a President hailing from a tribal community, how do you see Draupadi Murmu's projection as a joint candidate by the NDA for the next President? Do you think it is an apolitical gamble played by the BJP?
Sinha: We never had a President whose name started with 'Y'. So, there's always a first time. Why didn't they make her President in 2017? You ask the Modi government.
ETB: Leaders from across the political spectrum are claiming that Yashwant Sinha should withdraw his name given his age and Murmu's projection as the next President? Do you think that you're entering a dead battle?
Sinha: It's a completely wrong statement. I don't know who all are saying that I should withdraw. Why should I withdraw? Nobody has said a word to me that I should withdraw. And after all, it's a battle of ideology. From where does this question come that I should withdraw! These are foolish claims by foolish people. My candidature was announced before her (Draupadi Murmu). If the government wanted to build a consensus, then they should have said that Draupadi Murmu is our candidate and then they should have approached the opposition.
Please go and ask them (BJP) why they didn't do that if they were keen on building her. My complaint to this government is that it does not work on the basis of consensus. It works on the basis of 'confrontation'. On dead battle, when you go into a battle can you guarantee that you'll come safe and alive. When you send a soldier into a battle, there's always a danger of death. So will the soldier not go to the battle!
ETB: Farooq Abdullah, Sharad Pawar, and Gopalkrishna Gandhi declined to step in, so who approached you first?
Sinha: They may have their own thoughts and I have my own. Mr. Sharad Pawar and Mallikaarjun Kharge were the first ones to approach me after the meeting.
