Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Yashwant Sinha has accepted the Aam Aadmi Party government's invite to conduct a ‘budget workshop’ for its legislators. The Indian Express reported that the sidelined leader, who is an expert in the field of finance, was approached by the government for a three-hour orientation programme that is scheduled for March 15. The state budget session starts on March 22.

The Delhi government has been at loggerheads with the Centre on a range of issues. But even as the development raised eyebrows in political circles, Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel said such workshops with political leaders across party lines have been routinely held in the past. “Too much is being read into the invitation to Yashwant Sinha. One has to move beyond party lines and look at the merit of the person. He has presented several budgets at the Centre and has great understanding of the process,” he said. NDTV reported that Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia will also attend the workshop.

Sinha, who held the finance and external affairs portfolios in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Chandra Shekhar governments, was sidelined by the Narendra Modi-led National democratic Alliance when it came to power in the Centre in 2014. After the new government was formed, Sinha and other senior leaders like LK Advani were pushed out of the government's decision-making processes and inducted into the Margdarshak Mandal, which is supposed to provide guidance to the PM and the government. In June 2015, Sinha had said that all those are above the age of 75 were declared brain dead by Modi when he took charge as the PM.