Yashwant Sinha's Big Hint For President Polls, Thanks Mamata Banerjee

Ahead of a meeting of the opposition parties over the upcoming presidential polls, Trinamool Congress leader and former Union Minister Yashwant Sinha has set off a buzz, indicating in a tweet that the opposition parties could float his name as their joint candidate for the July elections.

Yashwant Sinha said he "must step aside" from the party to work for greater opposition unity. 

Sources have told NDTV that Mr Sinha has sent his resignation to Trinamool Congress president Mamata Banerjee.

"I am grateful to Mamataji for the honour and prestige she bestowed on me in the TMC. Now a time has come when for a larger national cause I must step aside from the party to work for greater opposition unity. I am sure she approves of the step," he tweeted.

Former West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi on Monday became the third person, after Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, to withdraw his name as the probable joint opposition candidate for the presidential polls. 

Reports suggest that Yashwant Sinha's name was discussed by the opposition parties on Monday after Gopalkrishna Gandhi turned down their offer.

Yashwant Sinha had quit the BJP in 2018, and he joined Trinamool Congress in 2021. He was later appointed as the party's vice-president.

Mamata Banerjee is likely to skip the opposition meeting convened by Sharad Pawar later today. Instead, her nephew Abhishek Banerjee will attend the meeting as the Trinamool Congress's representative, sources said.

The BJP will also hold its parliamentary board meeting today where it's likely to finalise its pick for the presidential polls.

The process to elect a new president began on June 15. The last date for filing of nominations is June 29. The polls, if necessary, will be held on July 18 and the counting on July.