Yashwant Sinha’s final pitch ahead of Presidential Elections- ‘I stand for protecting secularism’

As the presidential election campaign drew to a close, Opposition camp’s candidate Yashwant Sinha made a final pitch to all parties on Sunday asking them to choose between two ideologies, and not individuals, while claiming that he stands for upholding India’s democratic values, while his opponent Droupadi Murmu is “supported by those who are mounting daily attacks on democracy.”

“I stand for protecting secularism, a preambular pillar of our Constitution. My rival candidate belongs to a party that has made no secret of its resolve to destroy this pillar and establish majoritarian supremacy,” Sinha’s statement read.

“I stand for encouraging politics of consensus and cooperation. My rival candidate is backed by a party that practices politics of conflict and confrontation,” his statement further read. While not directly taking Murmu’s name, Sinha said that if she is elected, she will be controlled by forces “whose aim is to convert democratic India into an imitator of communist China.”

“One Nation, One Party, One Supreme Leader. Must this not be stopped? yes, it must be. Only you can stop it,” Sinha said in his statement

On Saturday, while urging all MLAs and MPs to pay heed to their conscience while voting, Sinha said that the ruling party at the Centre is crushing democracy by snatching other parties’ right to oppose.

“When I started the campaign (for the presidential poll) last month I had said that democracy is in danger. But now when I am concluding the campaign today, I can say that democracy stands ruined in the country”.

“I will not be surprised if similar dirty tactics are employed to destabilise the JMM-Congress government in Jharkhand in the near future,” Sinha said, while referring to similar instances in other states, including Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Asking political parties on whether they wanted a “rubber stamp” President, Sinha said, “But what I wanted to know from the members of the electoral college is that should India have a silent and rubber stamp Rashtrapati? Should India’s next President protect the Prime Minister or the Constitution?”