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Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday, 16 October, launched a fresh salvo at Congress President Rahul Gandhi saying he was a his "clown prince out-clowning himself". In a Facebook post, Jaitley accused Gandhi of spreading lies on a range of issues including the Rafale deal and scams by Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya.
Here’s how the blog read:
Many young lawyers practising criminal law used to get an advice early in their career from veterans in the field. They were told “if you are strong on facts, bang the facts. If you are strong on law, bang the law. If you are weak on both, then bang the desk.” Those who advise Rahul Gandhi appear to have persuaded him that he is cut out only for the third option.
Since beating the desk itself would not suffice, it has to be accompanied with a new narrative.
If the factual narrative does not suit him then concoct an alternative. Repeat the false narrative a dozen times and convince yourself that falsehood is in fact is the truth. Thereafter, you can comfortably live in self-delusion. Or is it a case of mendacity.
The onus now lies on me to substantiate what I have said. Rahul Gandhi’s speeches and tweets display repeated examples of this. I give five examples.
A. He repeatedly says that a private business house in India has got an advantage ranging from Rs 38,000 Crore to Rs 1,30,000 Crore. He further argues that what was to be manufactured by HAL is now being manufactured by a private business house with no experience.
THE TRUTH : Rafale aircraft and its weaponry is not being manufactured in India at all, neither by Dassault or by any other private company. All 36 aircrafts and their weapons in a fully flyable and usable form will arrive in India. After the supplies begin Dassault has to make purchases in India for 50 percent of the contract value.
This is as per the UPA’s policy to promote make in India. If the total deal is for Rs 58,000 Crore, 50 percent of that amounts to Rs. 29,000 Crore. These supplies to Dassault are to be made by over 120 offset suppliers and which the business house named is one of them. Dassault has said that only 3 percent of offset may come to that business house which is less than Rs 1000 Crore.
B. He repeats congenitally despite being corrected several times that once an account is declared as NPA it amounts to a loan waiver. He then builds a false narrative of the PM having waived the loan of his 15 friends.
THE TRUTH : Loans were given during the UPA period. Not a single rupee has been waived. The Promotors of the defaulting companies have been thrown out through the IBC, and banks are successfully recovering their dues. Through the process of NCLT banks are recovering their loans.
C. A cliché that he learnt was as to question why mobile phones could not be manufactured in India? I corrected him by mentioning that when UPA went out of power there were only two units manufacturing mobile phones and their accessories. Today there are 120 units and expanding.
He then changed his example. He now tells his audiences why footwear are not being manufactured in the district, where he is speaking. Ill-informed as he is, India has become the second largest manufacturer of footwear in the world. Our exports in footwear are about Rs.20,000 crores each year. He just has to take a trip to Bahadurgarh on the outskirts of Delhi to realise the competitive nature of India’s footwear industry.
D. On GST he mentions that it is flawed and needs to be changed. India has witnessed the most successful implementation of the GST. The country has become one market, all check-points have been abolished, inspectors have disappeared and like Income-tax, the returns are now filed online and most assessments will be online.
All States, including Congress ruled States have approved the model and the rates. In the first 13 months, the Congress legacy of 31 percent tax (Excise + VAT + CST) has been reduced to 18 percent and 12 percent in relation to 334 commodities. This has also helped us to check inflation. He seems to be unaware of this.
His Latest Concoction
E. Yesterday, while speaking at two different functions in Madhya Pradesh, he made two references to me in each of his speeches I am annexing clips of his speeches as they appear in the social media. In the first one he says that I have admitted that Vijay Mallya met me in Parliament. He further claims, I have further admitted that Mallya told me that he was escaping to London and that I helped him to escape. He says in his second speech that I have admitted that Nirav Modi also met me in Parliament. He claims that I have admitted that he had a meeting with me and told me that he was going out of the country and I helped him to escape.
THE TRUTH : I do not recollect ever having even seen Nirav Modi in my life. The question of his meeting me in Parliament does not arise. If he came to Parliament, as Rahul Gandhi claims, then reception records would show that. Where have I admitted all this Mr Gandhi?
As a Member of Parliament, Vijay Mallya once chased me in the corridor of Parliament to discuss his case. I did not pay any heed to him and coldly told him to make his proposal to the bankers. This he says constitutes a meeting where he told me that he was escaping to London. Absolute lie.
How does he concoct this falsehood? At the Hindustan Times Summit, he referred to a meeting he had with me and attributed same statements to me. When asked I merely said that ‘I can’t answer hallucinations. I am in the distinguished company of President Macron’.
Today, I feel it is much more than hallucinations. Is it a personality issue where he lies a dozen times and then in self delusion believes it to be true or is it a case of a ‘Clown Prince’ out-clowning himself?
‘Want a Finance Minister, Not a Babble Blogger’: Congress
The Congress on Tuesday responded to Jaitley’s comments by dubbing him as a "babble blogger".
Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala attacked Jaitley accusing him of "banging" the economy by his "incomprehension". Taking to Twitter, he said the country needed a finance minister and not a "babble-blogger".
"Hollow rants of a ‘Court Jester' - ‘Mr Jait-Lie' won't change the truth that- You bang the truth to hide ineptitude, You bang the Rupee by your mismanagement, You bang exports by your incompetence, You bang the Economy by your incomprehension.
Statement issued by Congress.
(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/Randeep Surjewala)
"India needs a FM, Not a ‘Babble Blogger'," he tweeted.
Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said it was unfortunate that the finance minister had time only to write blogs while the country's economy was in "bad shape".
He said the time will come when the country will render this government out of power for its ministers to have all the time to write blogs. He also said the government's functioning was "funny", where the finance minister talks about defence matters, the Railway minister about finance and the law minister about other matters.
“There is absolute chaotic and absurd state of affairs in this government,” Tewari alleged, adding that “these people do not know how to govern.”
"Therefore, the time has come for people to show the door to these people for them to write only blogs," he said.
The Congress has been attacking the government over the Rafale deal and has accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of indulging in corruption and favouritism. The allegations have been denied by the government.
(With inputs from PTI)
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