Arun Jaitley, Finance Minister of India, fired fresh salvo at not only the Congress party and Rahul Gandhi, but also Dr. Manmohan Singh, while addressing the media in Surat.
When asked about the controversy surrounding Rahul Gandhi’s faith, after his name was found entered in the ‘Non Hindu’ register at Somnath Temple, Arun Jaitley said :
“BJP has always been seen as a pro-Hindutva party so if an original is available why one would prefer a clone?”
It is widely believed that the Congress is owning Rahul’s “Hindu identity” so vociferously by calling him a “janeu dhaari Brahmin” because of the upcoming Gujarat elections. Arun Jaitley’s statement was perhaps to deride Congress’ strategic attempt at ‘Soft Hindutva’ right before the Gujarat assembly elections.
Arun Jaitley also said that even before the results are out, Congress is talking about EVM tampering as an excuse that can be used to justify their imminent loss.
He also took a potshot at Dr. Manmohan Singh. Jaitley was quoted as saying :
“The 10 years of governance before Modi Ji’s govt was the most corrupt govt we have ever seen. It was a leaderless government. It was said that the then PM is a PM in office but not in power.”
On the liberalisation reforms of the 1990s, Jaitley said that the reforms “were taken under compulsion”, he added that the reforms under the Modi government are taken “by conviction”.
Mr. Jaitley has been in the frontline criticising statements by Rahul Gandhi. On November 30th, Jaitley had tweeted against Rahul Gandhi’s comments on GST.
What Rahul Gandhi suggested was single GST rate of 18 %. This is different from suggesting a cap of 18 %. This was the grand stupid idea. Can a Hawai chappal and a BMW car be taxed at the same rate?
— Arun Jaitley (@arunjaitley) December 1, 2017
With Gujarat assembly elections just a few days away, the war of words is sure to heat up.
