Yashwant Sinha
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| Name | Yashwant Sinha |
|---|---|
| Born on | 11/06/37 |
| Political Party | Bhartiya Janta Party |
| Tenure as FM | 1990 to 1991, 1998 to 2002 |
| Current Status | Minister of External Affairs |
Yashwant Sinha, the erstwhile finance minister of India, was born on November 6, 1937 in Patna. He served in this post from 1990 to 1991 under the then Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar Singh and again from March 1998 to July 2002 in the cabinet headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Yashwant Sinha - Political Career
Yashwant Sinha tendered his resignation from the Indian Administrative Services in 1984 and became an active politician after enrolling at the Janata Party. In 1986 he became the All-India General Secretary of the party and in 1988 was elected to the Rajya Sabha.When Janata Dal was created in 1989 he was selected to become its General Secretary. It was during this time that he worked for the first time as the Minister of Finance.
During June 1996 he was appointed the BJP’s national spokesperson and became the finance minister during March 1998. He also worked as the foreign minister till May 22, 2004 when the UPA government assumed power following the parliamentary elections.
He contested the elections from Hazaribagh constituency in Jharkhand, which was then part of Bihar. However, contrary to expectations he was defeated. He contested the elections again in 2005. Sinha stood down from the post of BJP’s Vice President on June 13, 2009.
Yashwant Sinha – Impact as a Finance Minister
Yashwant Sinha operated as the finance minister till July 1, 2002 till he interchanged profiles with Jaswant Singh, the then foreign minister. During his time, Sinha had to roll back couple of the most important policy related programs of BJP and he faced much criticism for this.
However, Sinha is also credited for being the moving force behind some reform measures that have helped Indian economy do well and achieve a steady level of growth. Some such measures may be mentioned as below:
- Lowering real interest rates
- Assisting with the funding of the National Highways Authority
- Introducing tax reduction for interests of mortgages
- Doing away with the regulations of the petroleum industry
- Liberalizing the telecommunications sector
Of late, Yashwant Sinha has been a vocal critic of the UPA II government especially on issues such as the black money kept in overseas banks. He has stated that the government has not initiated any concrete steps against the offenders and further expressed his disbelief at the Union Government's contention that a bilateral agreement is preventing it from coming out with the names. He has also taken the onus of revealing the names himself if the NDA were successful at the 2014 elections.
He has also been a strong support for BJP in his capacity as a senior leader and defended the party on its stances regarding important issues such as the Companies Bill. He has stated that the present administration has come up with a new version of the bill that needs to be reviewed by the Parliamentary Standing Committee.
Corruption, especially among the political parties, has been a major issue for debate of late. The introduction of Babu Singh Kushwaha, an Uttar Pradesh leader, in BJP has created quite a stir but Sinha has defended the decision saying it was taken for practical political purposes.
He has also threatened to resign from BJP recently as he felt that the party was not dealing with the issue of corruption properly, thus acting as a reality check for the biggest opposition of India.
Last Updated on 2/15/2012
