Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley led the counter-attack against Rahul Gandhi. (File)
Even as Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday left no stone unturned in attacking the BJP-led government over a host of issues- ranging from Nirav Modi to agrarian distress – at his rally in Mandsaur, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley led the counter-attack. Posting a point-by-point rebuttal of Gandhi’s allegations in a blog on his Facebook page, Jaitley questioned Gandhi’s knowledge of things that he talked about during the Mandsaur rally. “How much does he know? when will he know?,” wondered Jaitley.
Addressing the ‘Kisan Samriddhi Sankalp’ rally, that coincided with the first anniversary of police firing on farmers in the district last year, Gandhi said if Congress was voted to power in Madhya Pradesh, it would waive farmers’ loans within 10 days
Here is how Arun Jaitley countered Rahul Gandhi’s allegations:
1) On favouring industrialists
Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister Modi of waiving loans of Rs.2.5 lakh crores of the 15 top industrialists in the country but not even one rupee had been waived for the farmers. “The governments in Punjab and Karnataka, where the Congress is in power, have already waived the farmers’ loan,” the Congress chief said.
Countering his claims, Jaitley wrote the government had not waived a single rupee due from any industrialist but had enacted the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code to deter defaulters and creditors. “Those who owed money to the banks and other creditors have been declared insolvent and removed from their companies by IBC. These loans were given largely during the UPA Government,” Jaitley wrote.
2) On farm loan waivers and NPAs
During the rally, Gandhi recalled that the previous UPA government had waived farmers’ loan to the tune of Rs 70,000 crore. He said he had met Modi in his office “only once” when he led a farmers’ delegation to seek help for the community but there was no assurance.
Arun Jaitley argued that Gandhi’s assertion that the BJP government was giving loans only to industrialists was factually false and such favours were carried out during the UPA II regime. He said the bulk of present non-performing assets (NPAs) accumulated during 2008-14. “From 2014 we have been systematically taking one step after the other to recover these monies back,” Jaitley said in the FB post.
3) On Nirav Modi and Punjab National Bank fraud
Rahul Gandhi, who virtually launched the election campaign for Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday, alleged that Prime Minister Modi had given Rs. 35,000 crore each to two diamond jewellers (Nirav Modi and Jatin Mehta of Winsome Diamonds), who have now escaped out of the country.
The Finance Minister rebutted the remarks, saying the banking fraud started in the year 2011 when the UPA II was in power and was detected by the present NDA government.
Rahul Gandhi also castigated the state and Central governments for ignoring the farm distress across the country. (Source/Twitter)
4) On mobile phone manufacturing units
Criticising the government’s flagship “Make in India” scheme, Gandhi accused PM Modi of allowing Chinese products to flood markets. He also expressed hope that in five years he wished to see a mobile phone with “Made in Mandsaur” tag.
Dishing out statistics, Jaitley said when UPA lost the 2014 elections, there were only two mobile phone manufacturing units in India. “In 2018, with the result of our electronics policy and the incentives in a four year period, this has increased to 120 units with an investment of Rs.1,32,000 crores,” the finance minister said.
5) On jobs and rise in unemployment
Taking a jibe at Modi’s famous Rs 15 lakh promise, Rahul Gandhi asked the people whether they had got a single penny in their account. He also questioned PM Modi on his pre-poll promise of offering two crore jobs every year.
Pointing to the latest GDP rate, which shows India as the fastest growing economy in the world, Jaitley said there was a double-digit growth in construction, expansion in manufacturing and an increased capital formation. “This indicates investment increase, large investment in physical infrastructure and increased investment in rural India. All these are job-creating sectors,” he said.