Former Union Minister Yashwant Sinha is opposition candidate for President

Yashwant Sinha, a former Union Minister in the NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, was declared the opposition candidate for President on Tuesday.

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“In the forthcoming Presidential elections, we have decided to elect a common candidate and stop the Modi government from doing further damage. At a subsequent meeting held today we have chosen Yashwant Sinha as a common candidate. We appeal to all political parties to vote for Yashwant Sinha,” Jairam Ramesh, Congress’s communications chief, stated.

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The declaration came just hours after Sinha announced his departure from the Trinamool Congress (TMC), the party he decided to join last year, “for a larger national cause.”

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“I am grateful to (TMC president) Mamata Banerjee for the honour and prestige she bestowed on me in the TMC. Now the time has come when, for a larger national cause, I must step aside from the party to work for greater opposition unity. I am sure she approves of the step,” Sinha, the former TMC vice-president, had tweeted.

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The news comes after NCP head Sharad Pawar, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, and former West Bengal governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi rejected to run as Opposition candidates for the top job.

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The deadline for submitting presidential nominations is June 29. The election will be held on July 18, and the results will be announced on July 21. President Ram Nath Kovind‘s tenure expires on July 24, and the next president must be elected before then.