Yashwant Sinha joins TMC

Yashwant Sinha, former Union Finance Minister under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, joined the Trinamool Congress weeks ahead of the West Bengal Assembly election. The 83-year-old had quit his earlier party, the BJP, in 2018. His joining Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's side is likely to be viewed as a prize catch for an outfit that has seen a steady outflow of both leaders and cadres in the past few months. Sinha joined his new party at the Trinamool Bhawan in Kolkata in the presence of Derek O Brien, Sudip Bandopadhyay, and Subrata Mukherjee. "The country is facing an unprecedented situation today. The strength of democracy lies in the strength of the institutions of democracy. All these institutions, including the judiciary, have become weak now," said Sinha right after joining Trinamool.