New Delhi: The seventeen opposition political parties which have agreed to nominate Yashwant Sinha as their joint candidate said on Tuesday that the unity forged for the presidential election will be “further consolidated in the months ahead”.
The former Union minister, who has quit all the posts he held in the Trinamool Congress (TMC) party, is “eminently qualified to uphold the secular and democratic character of the Indian Republic and its Constitutional values”, the parties said in a joint statement.
The 17 parties – among whom are the TMC, Congress, Nationalist Congress Party, Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Samajwadi Party, National Conference, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, Rashtriya Janata Dal and All India United Democratic Front – said that ideally, a consensus candidate of the government and the opposition should be elected for the highest office of the Republic.
“However, the initiative for this should have been taken by the Government. We regret the fact that the Modi government made no serious efforts in this direction,” they said.
They appealed to all the political parties to support the candidature of Sinha.
“India is passing through difficult times. The BJP government at the Centre has failed totally in fulfilling its promises and commitments. Furthermore, it is misusing ED, CBI, Election Commission, Governor’s office and other institutions as weapons against Opposition Parties and state governments run by them,” the statement added.
The parties said their unity was forged in a “spirit of equality, common commitments and consensus-building through dialogue” and will be “further consolidated” in the months ahead.
A committee has been formed to steer Sinha’s campaign, which will start working immediately, they said.
The presidential election will be held on July 18, while the votes will be counted on July 21.
The full statement is reproduced below.
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We, the representatives of various secular Opposition Parties, met in New Delhi on 15 June 2022 and adopted the following resolution unanimously.
“In the forthcoming Presidential Election, which is being held in the year of the 75th Anniversary of India’s Independence, we have decided to field a common candidate who can truly serve as the Custodian of the Constitution and stop the Modi Government from doing further damage to Indian democracy and India’s social fabric.”
At a subsequent meeting held today, we are happy to announce that we have unanimously chosen Shri Yashwant Sinha as the common candidate of the Opposition Parties for the Presidential Election, which will take place on 18 July 2022.
In his long and distinguished career in public life, Shri Sinha has served the nation in various capacities — as an able administrator, accomplished parliamentarian and acclaimed Union Minister of Finance and External Affairs. He is eminently qualified to uphold the secular and democratic character of the Indian Republic and its Constitutional values.
Ideally, a consensus candidate of the Government and the Opposition should be elected for the highest office of the Republic. However, the initiative for this should have been taken by the Government. We regret the fact that the Modi Government made no serious efforts in this direction. We, therefore, appeal to all the political parties to support the candidature of Shri Yashwant Sinha so that the nation can have a worthy Rashtrapati elected unopposed.
India is passing through difficult times. The BJP government at the Centre has failed totally in fulfilling its promises and commitments. Furthermore, it is misusing ED, CBI, Election Commission, Governor’s office and other institutions as weapons against Opposition Parties and state governments run by them. Therefore, we assure the people of India that the unity of the Opposition Parties, which has been forged for the Presidential Election in a spirit of equality, common commitments and consensus-building through dialogue, will be further consolidated in the months ahead.
A committee has been formed to steer Shri Yashwant Sinha’s campaign which will start working from today.