THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a veiled attack on NDA’s presidential candidate, Draupadi Murmu, presidential candidate of the combined Opposition parties, Yashwant Sinha, opined that the country needs a president who serves as an impartial custodian of Constitution, and not one who acts as a rubber stamp of the Centre. He was speaking at a press meet organised by Kerala Union of Working Journalists. Earlier, he sought support from LDF and UDF legislators and MPs in separate sessions at the Sankaranarayanan Thampi Lounge at the Kerala Legislative Assembly.
Recalling that former presidential candidate of the Congress, Pratibha Patil, had filed her nomination papers during 2007 before the returning officer in the presence of the then prime minister Manmohan Singh, Yashwant Sinha claimed that it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who filed the nomination papers for Draupadi Murmu.
“This shows the fate that awaits the country. After filing my nomination papers before the returning officer, Kerala has been my first stop seeking support from the LDF and UDF leaders. There are people who think that numbers are not in favour of me. Every election is not a numbers game. In my case, it is a developing situation between now and July 18”, said Yashwant Sinha.
Waxing eloquent about the state’s support as Kerala is the only state to give wholehearted support to him from the LDF and UDF, 84-year-old Sinha said the BJP Government is using all its might to overthrow the Maharashtra Government. A former finance minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led government, Yashwant Sinha termed Modi Government’s decision to implement demonetisation in 2016 as the biggest scam of this century. He added that it dealt a “body blow to the economy” which led to a decline in GDP from 8 per cent to the present 4.
Sinha appealed to the legislators from the state, the need to have a “thinking and speaking” president at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Though the LDF and UDF votes would be cast in favour of Yashwant Sinha, they decided to meet him separately.