Yashwant Sinha quits TMC ahead of Opposition meet on presidential polls

Ahead of Opposition's meet to decide on Presidential candidate, Yashwant Sinha quit the Trinamool Congress on Tuesday.

The Congress and Left had insisted that he resign from the party if he were to be chosen as the presidential candidate from the Opposition side.

"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.

Sinha's name surfaced as Opposition scurried for a new consensus candidate – a “non-party” nominee – for the July 18 Presidential elections after Gopalkrishna Gandhi on Monday drove them into a crisis by declining their offer to fight the electoral battle.

Senior Opposition leaders like Sitaram Yechury and D Raja met at Sharad Pawar's residence this morning to fine-tune the strategy ahead of the Opposition meeting in the afternoon. Sinha's name is likely to be officially announced after the meeting.

Pawar had last evening spoken to senior leaders like Mamata Banerjee, K Chandrasekhar Rao, Arvind Kejriwal, Akhilesh Yadav and Tejaswi Yadav among others on the Presidential polls. All had promised to support a common candidate, including Sinha.

More to follow...