The Yashwant Sinha story, and how TMC made a grand fool of him

Politics is a strange arena, where yesteryear’s enemies can be today’s friend and vice versa. Congress and its allies were sworn political rivals of then staunch BJP leader and Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha. But as soon as PM Modi rose to power, the ideological mask from Mr Sinha was off. He started cursing his party, BJP, for its policies and ideology which he himself had contributed to.

In hatred for PM Modi, he went berserk in hope of being evicted from the party, so as to play the victim card. He did achieve success in his ploy and was shown doors by the saffron party, BJP. After being a fringe politician for several years, his political ambitions swelled up once again. He latched on to the possibility of being the Presidential candidate of the united opposition. But yet again, politics has proven to be a strange business. The same opposition parties are making a mockery out of his Presidential candidature. Ironically, none other than Mamata Banerjee is leading this charge.

TMC: We will catapult you but we will also drag you back

It seems that Bengal CM and TMC Supremo Mamata Banerjee has played a cruel joke on President Candidate Yashwant Sinha. Earlier, all the three probable candidates for the Presidential election, proposed by the united opposition, declined. At that time, it was none other than Mamata Banerjee who pushed the name of TMC leader Yashwant Sinha for the post. Despite reservations from other political parties, Mamata Banerjee forged a consensus among the Opposition bloc to field a joint candidate.

But as soon as the NDA led by BJP fielded Honourable Former Governor of Jharkhand Droupadi Murmu as their candidate for President Post, all opposition parties went jittery. It was evident that no political party would want to project themselves as an anti-tribal party. As a matter of fact, Former governor Droupadi Murmu has risen from ground level and has worked immensely for the welfare of the society specially the Scheduled castes and Scheduled Tribes. Moreover, she belongs to Santhal tribe which has a sizable population in many opposition ruled states. So they can politically swing results in any favour.

That is why, since her nomination, the TMC has been distancing itself from Mr Sinha’s campaign against her for the top post. On that note, Mamata Banerjee piped a different political tune and hinted that even her party legislatures could support NDA Presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu. She told reporters that former Jharkhand governor Murmu could have been the consensus candidate of all parties had the BJP been forthcoming about its choice. In this way, TMC Supremo Mamata Banerjee dropped the lightning bolt on the candidature of its former party member, Yashwant Sinha. Many reports claim that Mr Sinha who is touring several states to garner support for his presidential candidature would most likely skip Mamata Banerjee ruled West Bengal.

Evidently, West Bengal has a sizable population of Santhal tribes to which former Jharkhand Governor Droupadi Murmu belongs. The tribe is said to have a political impact across five Lok Sabha seats and more than 30 Assembly constituencies. Additionally, around 80 percent of Bengal’s tribal population belongs to the Santhal tribe.

The earlier electoral success of BJP in these tribal dominated areas further adds worries to the TMC Supremo Mamata Banerjee. Hence, she has given a reason for her party legislatures to vote for the NDA candidate. So, this soft stance of Mamata Banerjee for NDA President Candidate is nothing but egging the campaign of former TMC leader Yashwant Sinha. It will not be a surprise if after an inevitable loss, Mr Sinha starts giving statements against TMC and Mamata Banerjee for her betrayal. In hindsight it will prove to be an emotional ‘scam’ of TMC to invoke Presidential ambition in Mr Sinha and then dragging his campaign back with full force and give him a reality check about politics.