Yashwant Sinha

Yashwant Sinha (Hindustani pronunciation: [jəʃˈʋən̪t̪ sɪnˈɦɑː], born 6 November 1937) is an Indian politician and retired Indian Administrative Service officer. He served as the Minister of Finance from 1990 until 1991 under Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar and again from March 1998 to July 2002 under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He also served as the Minister of External Affairs from July 2002 until May 2004. He was a senior leader of the BJP before he left the party on 21 April 2018. In 2022, he was the Presidential candidate of India for the opposition.

Early life

Sinha was born in a Kayastha family in Patna, Bihar. He graduated from University of Patna in BA Hons (History). He received his master's degree in political science in 1958. Subsequently, he taught the subject at the University of Patna until 1962.

Civil Service career

After securing All India rank 12th in the UPSC Civil Services Examination, Sinha joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1960 and spent over 24 years holding important posts during his service tenure. He served as Sub-Divisional Magistrate and District Magistrate for 4 years. He was Under Secretary and Deputy Secretary in the Finance Department of the Bihar Government for 2 years after which he worked in the Ministry of Commerce as Deputy Secretary to the Government of India.