Situation Created by Modi Govt Worse Than Emergency, Says Yashwant Sinha

Hazaribag (Jharkhand): Two days after quitting the BJP, former union minister Yashwant Sinha has alleged that the situation during the last four years of the Narendra Modi government was "worse than Emergency".

Sinha, who resigned from the BJP and taken 'sanyas' (retirement) from party politics on April 21, has also claimed that the people in the country were feeling insecure due to the actions of the Modi government, which, he said, has "destroyed the temple of democracy".

Talking to reporters on Sunday at his home, about 8 km from Hazaribag, Sinha said that his resignation had nothing to do with the birthday of his son Union Minister Jayant Sinha.

He said it was just a mere coincidence that his son's birthday was on the same day he had resigned from the BJP.

"The situation created by the Modi government is even worse than the Emergency proclaimed by Indira Gandhi," Sinha alleged, adding that no community was feeling secure due to the actions of the present government at the Centre.

Referring to the washout of the Budget session of Parliament, he claimed that it was the Modi government which did not want it to function smoothly as it did not want to face the no confidence motion despite the opposition demand.

The former external affairs minister pointed out that former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had not hesitated to table no confidence motion in 1998 when his government had fallen by just one vote.

But the present government did not care to maintain the sanctity of Parliament, Sinha alleged and expressed concern over what he called as the government's approach to control the Supreme Court, the Election Commission and gagging of the press.

He said this was the reason why he took the responsibility of protecting democracy, and described as 'unprecedented' the impeachment notice against the CJI challenging his style of functioning.

Sinha also questioned the use of agencies such as CBI, NIA, ED and Income Tax by the government for "harassing and gagging opposition leaders".

Asked what he would do after quitting the BJP, Sinha said he will continue his fight for protecting the cause of the distressed farmers, workers of the unorganised sector, youth, students and weaker section of society by addressing meetings throughout the country.

Alleging that there is no inner democracy in the BJP, he said, "Leaders will speak and the cadres will remain silent as they have no guts to raise their voices".

Without naming anyone, he said that a large number of people were backing him and supporting his fight for saving democracy in the country.