Yashwant Sinha, the presidential candidate backed by the Opposition, said the democracy is almost finished in the country and there prevails an atmosphere of fear.

“When I started my tour from Trivandrum (Thiruvananthapuram), I could say that democracy was in danger but now that I am concluding my tour of almost the entire country here in Ranchi today, I can say it’s nearly finished,” Sinha said while addressing the media in Ranchi on Saturday afternoon. He added that his interaction with the people’s representatives from across the country helped him conclude like this.

The presidential election is being held under unusual circumstances this year when the condition of the country is becoming bad to worse everyday, Sinha said.

“An atmosphere of fear is prevailing in the country where everyone except a single person is feeling afraid,” Sinha further said without naming that person.

He found that the people of the country were feeling hurt and sad as the institutions were being crushed and the government agencies were being misused, he said, adding “only those who have courage can now speak against the government”.

“The Parliament that is treated as the Temple of Democracy has also not been left untouched,” Sinha said.

Two very disturbing developments took place meanwhile, Sinha said, explaining that a fresh list of unparliamentary words was issued and all sorts of protests were also banned within the precincts of the Parliament House.

“This simply means that the government can’t be criticised even in the Parliament and the Opposition is expected to sing its praises,” Sinha concluded.

“Democracy is not just about voting every five years and I appeal to all voters (read MPs and MLAs) to listen to the call of their inner selves and opt for conscious voting,” he appealed.

“There is a precedence of such voting in the country when the candidate opposing the official one backed by the ruling party won,” Sinha reminded without mentioning V. V. Giri, an independent candidate backed by Indira Gandhi who had defeated the official Congress nominee Neelam Sanjiva Reddy in the presidential poll of 1969.

“I have nothing against the other candidate,” he said about the candidature of Droupadi Murmu but added he would much appreciate if the ruling party had actually wanted to uplift her community.

“In such case, she should have been made the Prime Minister and not the President who has limited power,” he concluded.

“The President represents the entire nation and not any state or district,” he replied when asked if the JMM should have supported Sinha as he hails from Jharkhand.

Earlier, Sinha interacted with the Congress MPs and MLAs from Jharkhand and also met chief minister Hemant Soren.