Yashwant Sinha said that he is quitting the BJP and "taking sanyas (retirement) from party politics"

Highlights Yashwant Sinha blamed "the party's condition" for his decision to quit

Mr Sinha said he will now try to unite all non-BJP parties

He announced this on his son's birthday, a minister in PM Modi's cabinet

Former union minister Yashwant Sinha, who has minced no words in frequently criticizing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, today announced that he was quitting the BJP and launching a strong nationwide campaign to save democracy. "Today I am ending all ties with the BJP... I am taking sanyas (retirement) from any kind of party politics", Yashwant Sinha said in Patna this afternoon.The veteran leader, who had joined the BJP in the nineties, blamed the condition of the party , and said, "I am quitting the BJP because of the party's condition. As you have already seen the recent Parliament session - it was the shortest session in the history.""Democracy in India is in great danger," he added.Yashwant Sinha said he will now try to unite all non-BJP parties. "I will not join any political party and will have nothing to do with party-politics. I am not an aspirant for any top post and I am making it clear here that I am not at all interested to seek any post," he added.The announcement was made during a meeting of Yashwant Sinha's organization Rashtra Manch. Leaders of the Congress, Lalu Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal were present at the meet; so was BJP lawmaker Shatrughan Sinha, who has also been sidelined by the party. Yashwant Sinha made his announcement on the birthday of his son Jayant Sinha, who is a minister in PM Modi's government.In 2014, after Prime Minister Modi's whopping victory, Yashwant Sinha was marginalised along with senior leaders including LK Advani, seen as punishment for opposing Mr Modi being named their party's presumptive prime minister.

In September last year, Yashwant Sinha had skewered his own government's economic performance in a lacerating opinion , in which he said, "The economy is on a downward spiral and a hard landing is inevitable."Yashwant Sinha had held the Finance and External Affairs portfolios in Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's cabinet between 1998 and 2004.