CAA will not be implemented if I am in Rashtrapati Bhavan: Sinha

GUWAHATI: Yashwant Sinha, the consensus candidate of the opposition, who was in the city on Wednesday, said he was confident of getting the full support of West Bengal, and not just the TMC but other parties as well despite the rumours of Mamata Banerjee going soft on NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu.
He alleged that the Centre has compelled many to vote in favour of Murmu. He said the opposition parties had got together twice in Delhi but the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha was the only sour point because “we do not know on which side of the fence it was”.
“The TDP was not invited to the Delhi meeting. I did not organize the meeting and so don’t know the reason why they were left out. But let me tell you I am fighting with great determination for the post,” Sinha said.
He said the Aam Aadmi Party will put their cards on the table at the right time. Sinha said the Shiv Sena is the only party from the opposition camp which remains isolated despite being keen to support him initially.
It was encouraging, he said, to receive a grand welcome in Hyderabad by TRS led by chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, despite the fact that they had not joined the meeting.
Sinha held his first meeting with AIUDF MLAs, though party supremo Badruddin Ajmal was not present. The legislators extended full support to him. He attended another meeting with TMC leaders in the evening. Major anti-BJP parties extended support to Sinha, despite internal differences and he assured that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), one of the biggest issues in Assam and the northeast, would not get implemented if he gets elected.
Addressing a meeting organized by the Congress here, he said, “CAA could not be implemented in the country even after the Covid situation became normal because it was ‘bewakufi ka kanoon’ (law of stupidity) drafted in a hurry. If I am in Rashtrapati Bhavan, CAA won’t be allowed to be implemented,” he asserted.
Sinha said he had great regard for Droupadi Murmu. He, however, said that this election is not about personalities and their identities, it’s about ideologies.
“It is about their commitments to the Constitution,” he said. “Should India have a mute Rashtrapati ? Should India have a rubber-stamp Rashtrapati?” he asked.