Yashwant Sinha says will not leave BJP, party can expel him

JABALPUR:  Disgruntled BJP leader Yashwant Sinha on Thursday said he would not part ways with the saffron party, but it can throw him out if it wished so.

Sinha, who launched a political platform 'Rashtra Manch' recently to take on the NDA-led central government, said being a citizen of India was a bigger thing than being a BJP member. "I will not leave the party, but if it wishes, it can expel me," he told reporters here.

The former finance minister said he had taken up the cause of farmers in his capacity as a citizen, adding that his opposition was not to a person or a party but to policies. Rashtra Manch is a movement of farmers and unemployed people, Sinha said, adding that those sitting in Delhi and Bhopal were unaware of farmers' plight.

"Investigating agencies are being used against people who think differently. Due to this, outside of the BJP, an atmosphere of fear is prevailing in the entire country," he alleged. The senior BJP leader said the latest Economic Survey referred to unemployment, education-related woes and farmers' problems.

"These problems have not crept up overnight...the government has failed on these counts in the last three years," the BJP veteran said. Sinha would be taking part in a farmers' agitation against a proposed power project in Narsinghpur district of Madhya Pradesh on February 1. He had also taken part in a protest on December 22.