OUTFIT FLOATED BY YASHWANT SINHA SLAMS CENTRAL GOVT

Mumbai:speakers at the first public meeting in Mumbai by Rashtra Manch, an outfit floated by former Union minister Yashwant Sinha, slammed the central government, saying it is “stifling democracy and has created an atmosphere of fear across the country”.

Apart from Sinha, the dais was occupied by former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) minister Arun Shourie, BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha, Trinamool Congress leader Dinesh Trivedi and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Sanjay Singh.

Sinha, who recently quit the BJP, alleged that “the Prime Minister’s Office is controlling all the ministries”. “The home minister occupies the second position in the Government but here when the BJP withdrew support to the Mehbooba Mufti government (in Jammu and Kashmir), our home minister was unaware of this development and came to know through the news channels. Similarly, the home minister was kept in the dark about the 2015 Naga Accord,” said Sinha.

Former Union minister Shourie said, “The 2019 elections is the last chance to reverse this trend. If you do not succeed, then forget democracy.”

BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha said he will continue to voice his opposition against the wrong policies of the Modi government despite being a BJP MP.

“I always give them honest feedback...variousdecisionslike demonetisation and GST (Goods and Services Tax) were not approved by the BJP or the Union cabinet but were taken by one individual. Both played a devastating role,” said Shatrughan Sinha.