Summary:
New Delhi, Jun 26 (PTI) The July 18 presidential election is much more than a personal contest and is a step towards resisting the authoritarian streak of the government, the Opposition"s candidate Yashwant Sinha said on Sunday.
In an interview to PTI, Sinha said he was not in any "dharma sankat" over not getting the support of his son, Jayant Sinha, a BJP MP.
"...he follows his "Raj Dharma", I will follow my "Rashtra Dharma"," he said.
"This election is more than merely the election of the president of India.
This election is a step towards resisting the authoritarian policies of the government.
This election is a message to the people of India that there should be resistance to these policies," he told PTI.
On the BJP-led NDA nominating Droupadi Murmu, a tribal leader, for the presidential election, the former Union minister said elevating an individual does not ensure the elevation of the whole community and the BJP"s projection of Murmu was nothing more than political symbolism.
"From my long experience of public life, (I can say) the elevation of one individual does not elevate the whole community.
The whole community"s elevation depends on the policies followed by the government.
Without commenting on it further, I would say that there are various examples in our own history where elevation of one individual in a community has not necessarily helped to pull up that community even by an inch.