New Delhi: Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday announced that Yashwant Sinha (TMC leader) will be the common candidate of the Opposition parties for the Presidential election, which will take place on July 18, 2022, said a statement.
“In his long and distinguished career in public life, 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,” said the press release.
“We, therefore, appeal to the BJP and its allies to support the candidature of Sinha so that the nation can have a worthy Rashtrapati elected unopposed,” the statement said.
Sinha joined All India Trinamool Congress on 13 March 2021 and left the party today ahead of the announcement of his candidature. Formerly a BJP leader, Sinha was elected to Lok Sabha as a BJP candidate from Hazaribagh (Lok Sabha constituency) in 1998, 1999, and 2009. He was appointed finance minister in March 1998 and Minister for External Affairs in 2002. In 2018, he quit the BJP citing political reasons.
(With inputs from ANI)
