[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]War of words between Sinha and finance minister Arun Jaitley intensifies, BJP margdarshak says those who haven’t seen face of Lok Sabha are attacking him
A day after Union finance minister Arun Jaitley countered his senior party colleague’s criticism of his handling of the Indian economy by terming the BJP ‘margdarshak mandal’ member a “job applicant at 80”, former finance minister Yashwant Sinha has hit back with equal gusto.
“He (Jaitley) has made this personal by calling me a ‘job applicant’. He delivered a well researched speech but overlooked (LK) Advani Ji’s advice to refrain from personal attacks. That’s okay though, I’m happy he made a personal attack,” Sinha said on Friday. “If I would have been a job applicant, then he would not have been (there),” Sinha added.
Sinha said Jaitley didn’t have a leg to stand on because he is merely “a political appointee” who has never had to nurture a constituency or work at the grassroots. The BJP warhorse, who had in an article for The Indian Express blamed the Union finance minister for making a “mess” of the Indian economy and said that he was “working overtime” to ensure that all Indians see poverty at close quarters, countered Jaitley’s ‘job aspirant at 80’ remark by saying: “I didn’t come to politics after retirement. I left my post in the IAS (Indian Administrative Service)… I could not be asking for a job at the age of 80 years.”
Countering Sinha’s charges against him and his claims of the Indian economy facing an imminent doom, Jaitley had on Thursday also sought to project his opponent’s term as finance minister in the Atal Bihar Vajpayee and Chandra Shekhar government as a failure. “I must confess that I do not have the luxury as yet of being a former finance minister. Nor do I have the luxury of being a former finance minister who has turned a columnist,” Jaitley had said, firing a salvo at both Sinha and Congress leader P Chidambaram, who had endorsed Sinha’s broadside against Jaitley.
Though Jaitley didn’t name Sinha or Chidambaram, he went on to take a satirical swipe at the duo, saying: “Being a former finance minister I can conveniently forget a policy paralysis (during UPA-II). I can conveniently forget the 15 per cent NPAs of 1998 and 2002 (during Sinha’s term as finance minister). I can conveniently forget the USD 4 billion reserve left in 1991 and I can switch over and change the narrative.”
On Friday, Sinha sought to fire a counter offensive, reminding Jaitley of his inability to win elections. Jaitley is known as much for being the BJP’s poll strategist as he is for his either staying away from active electoral politics – or losing the only election he has contested (from Amritsar during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls) despite a massive wave in favour of his party.
Sinha said: “After entering politics, I selected my constituency soon. It did not take me 25 years to select a Lok Sabha constituency. Those who have not seen the face of the Lok Sabha are questioning and attacking me.”
Sinha also hit out at Jaitley for not acting against black money hoarders whose names India had got under various bilateral efforts. “Three years ago HSBC Bank shared the names of over 700 people (holding black money abroad) with India. How many of them have been arrested? Has action been taken against them? Due to Panama Papers the Pakistan Prime Minister has had to resign. But why no action is being taken here,” Sinha said.
The government had also fielded Union minister of state for civil aviation Jayant Sinha to counter his father, Yashwant Sinha’s charges. Jayant had written an opinion piece countering claims of a slowdown of the Indian economy and though he didn’t expressly name his father in the article, it was evident that the counter-charges were meant to puncture Yashwant Sinha’s charges. It was largely speculated in the political grapevine that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government had deliberately forced Jayant (though he denied the rumours a day later) to counter his father’s article. Yashwant Sinha had termed Jayant’s article a “cheap political trick” by the government while Chidambaram had called the piece a “PIB handout”.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]