Former Union finance minister Yashwant Sinha severed his ties with the BJP on Saturday. He has been critical of the economic policies of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre, especially its November 2016 note ban. A former IAS officer, Yashwant Sinha left civil services in 1984 to join active politics. He was the minister for finance in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Chandra Shekhar governments.