New Delhi: Breaking his silence on criticism by fellow party leader Yashwant Sinha, Arun Jaitley on Thursday called him a job applicant at 80 years who had forgotten his record as finance minister.
He also accused Sinha of acting in tandem with senior Congress leader and former finance minister P Chidambaram, forgetting the harsh words the two had used for each other in the past.
At a book release function, Jaitley refrained from taking Sinha's name but said he does not have the luxury of being a former finance minister who has turned a columnist.
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 FM). I can conveniently forget the USD 4 billion reserve left in 1991 and I can switch over and change the narrative," he said.
"Acting in tandem itself won't change the facts," he said as he took a jibe at Sinha for seeking a job by making those comments. "Probably, a more appropriate title for the book would have been 'India at 70, Modi at 3.5 and a job applicant at 80," BJP leader and Finance Minister he said, at the release of the book titled 'India @70 Modi @3.5'.
Sinha, 84, in a newspaper article headlined "I need to speak up now" had recently criticised Jaitley over the "mess the FM has made of the economy" and had gone on to slam the government over decisions like note ban and the GST, the new universal tax regime.
"The PM claims that he has seen poverty from close quarters. His finance minister is working over-time to make sure that all Indians also see it from equally close quarters," Sinha had written.
Meanwhile, on the state of the economy, Jaitley said, "GST collection in first two months has reached anticipated figures and revenue will probably move up in next few months," and added, "PSU capex this fiscal is Rs 3 lakh crore and FDI continues to be largest ever. Plus, direct tax collections are up 15.7 percent over previous year."
He also said that the government was trying to maintain a balance between accelerating the pace of economy and taking care of the needs of the poor.
So, getting cross sections on the government's side and arousing a new confidence in them has been the basic tenor of this government in the past 3.5 years, the FM said.
On price rise, he said, this government inherited inflation of 9-10 percent and subsequently brought it down to a respectable level.
On the criticism of rising inflation by the Opposition, Jaitley said, "3.36 percent is also inflation (to them). Of course, system needs inflation otherwise economy will go into a recession."
He emphasised that the Modi-led government had brought down the fiscal deficit and current account deficit and maintain the rupee at the appropriate value.
(With PTI inputs)
