Former Union minister Yashwant Sinha, who joined West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress on Saturday, mentioned the Kandahar hijack incident to shower praises on the party supremo.
Sinha said during Kandahar hijack of Air India plane, when TMC was the coalition partner of the Vajpayee government, Banerjee had volunteered at the cabinet meet to go and meet the hijackers to secure release of hostages "as she is not afraid for her life".
A senior BJP leader during Atal Bihari Vajpayee rule, Sinha is a bitter critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi regime. He joined the TMC days ahead of the high-octane West Bengal assembly polls.
Sinha told reporters it was call of the hour to ensure TMC win
the assembly elections with a thumping majority which will
herald defeat of Modi government in 2024 Lok Sabha polls and
save the country.
Sinha had quit the saffron party in 2018 after having serious differences with the present party leadership. His son Jayant Sinha is the BJP MP from Hazaribagh in Jharkhand. The octagenarian leader had campaigned for TMC in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Speaking after joining TMC at its office in Kolkata, the bureaucrat-turned-politician, made a scathing attack on Modi and Union Home minister Amit Shah,observing that democracy is under threat in the country under them.
"Strength of the democracy lies in the robustness of its institutions, and all the institutions have been weakened systematically," Sinha said.
"The country is faced with strange situation. The values and principles we gave so much importance, the founding principles of our Republic are not being followed.
"The farmers of the country are sitting near Delhi for months but the government doesn't care. The ruling party hasonly one objective - win elections by any means," he said.
The senior politician pledged support to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in her fight against the BJP.
READ MORE: Bengal Polls 2021: Ex-BJP leader Yashwant Sinha joins TMC
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