Jaitley calls Yashwant Sinha a ‘job applicant at 80’

New Delhi, Sept 29: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday tore into former finance minister and BJP veteran Yashwant Sinha for his criticism of the government’s handling of the economy. Without mentioning Mr Sinha, Mr. Jaitley referred to him as a ‘job applicant’ who appeared to be working in tandem with another ex-finance minister P. Chidambaram and had the ‘luxury of being a columnist’.

“I have some very distinguished predecessors in my present job, one of whom is a former president (Pranab Mukherjee), one is a former Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh) — and I am certainly not referring to them. The others have decided to act in concert. Speaking on persons and then bypassing the issues is very easily done,” the Minister said after launching a book co-edited by the Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council and Niti Aayog member Bibek Debroy and Press Secretary to the President, Ashok Malik.

“Probably, a more appropriate title for your book would have been ‘India at 70, Modi at 3.5 and a job applicant at 80’,” Mr Jaitley told Mr Debroy and Mr Malik, whose book is titled ‘India at 70, Modi at 3.5 – Capturing India’s transformation under Narendra Modi.’

Stressing that the government’s efforts over the past three years have been focused on ensuring that the benefits of growth percolate to the poor and improve their quality of life while dispelling the policy paralysis, Mr. Jaitley red-flagged the abandonment of the centrist space by the Congress and the emergence of an ideological polarisation in the country caused by a convergence between the ultra-left and extreme Jihadi elements.

The decisive nature of the government will help revive private investments, Mr. Jaitley said, contrasting it to the ‘indifference in dealing with that problem when it was taking place during 2012-14.”

“Just looking the other way is not the approach of the government. …It’s a situation I am sure we will be able to respond to appropriately. India at 70 is an India which we look up to, where we want to continue to occupy the space of a fast growing economy.”

“We want each village to be connected by road by 2019, electrified by early next year, and each house to get a power connection by 2018-end… The entire additional resources that come from growth are blended with the needs of this section. This is how we visualise India at 70. Obviously, when India is at 70, there are always attempts to change the narrative,” he said.

“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’s turned columnist. Therefore, I can conveniently forget a policy paralysis, I can conveniently forget the 15% NPAs (non-performing assets) of 1998-2002, I can conveniently forget the $4 billion forex reserves left in 1991 and I can switch over and change the narrative,” Mr Jaitley said, in an oblique reference to Mr Sinha’s article questioning the Finance Minister’s performance.

Recalling BJP veteran L.K. Advani’s advice to him after his first intervention in Parliament in 1999 over the Bofors case, Mr. Jaitley said: “He made an interesting comment: ‘When you speak in Parliament or outside, speak on issues. Avoid speaking on persons.’ I have breached this rule once in a while, but I try to follow it as far as possible.”