New Delhi: Former union minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) vice-president Yashwant Sinha on Tuesday said he is stepping aside from the party to “work for greater opposition unity”. Sinha in a tweet expressed his gratitude to West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee for the “honour and prestige” she bestowed on him in the party.
“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,” he wrote on the micro-blogging platform.
Sinha, who had quit the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2018, joined the TMC earlier in March last year.
This comes amid speculations that Sinha has accepted the proposal made by a section of Opposition leaders to make him their presidential candidate.
The TMC had earlier indicated that it was ready to back party Sinha as the Opposition’s presidential candidate only if he emerged as a consensus choice.
All eyes will be on the meeting convened by Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday as the three names, including former West Bengal governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, proposed by the Opposition parties as candidates for the forthcoming presidential election have declined the offer.
The TMC is likely to propose the name of Sinha, a retired IAS officer, in the Opposition meeting convened by Pawar.