New Delhi: BJP leader and Patna Sahib MP Shatrughan Sinha held former finance minister Yashwant Sinha as a ‘true statesman’ following his damning column wherein he had slammed both the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on the economic mess.
In a series of tweets a day after Yashwant Sinha’s column, ‘I need to speak up now’, was published in a leading English daily, the actor-turned-politician said, “Mr Yashwant Sinha is a true statesman and a tried and tested man of wisdom, who has proven himself as one of the best and most successful Finance Ministers of the country.”
Sinha said Yashwant has “shown the mirror” to the government on the economic condition of India and has “hit the nail right on the head”. He said it would be “childish to be dismissive of or make light of his utterances”.
“I am of the firm opinion that everything that has been written by Mr Sinha is entirely in the party’s and national interest. Only recently our Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reiterated that the nation is bigger than the party. National interest comes first,” the Patna Sahib MP tweeted.
Calling Yashwant his “elder brother”, Sinha criticised the BJP leaders who are ascribing motives to the observations made in the newspaper column. “Expectedly, motives are being ascribed to Mr Sinha’s observations and we all know that the infamous and pervasive dirty tricks department is behind these dirty tricks,” he said.
“Both Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie are extremely learned and experienced intellectuals. Neither has any expectation or interest in being given a post (or mininstership), especially with the next elections less than two years away,” he said.
Sinha, instead, suggested the party must make a “point-by-point” rebuttal of Yashwant’s charges, and not ascribe motives. “For those who are trying hard to sidetrack the issues raised by Yashwant Sinha, I want to say that you can have a difference of opinion… a democracy allows you to have one. But you should be able to rebut someone’s views point by point, with strong and pointed arguments and not take recourse to evasive & general statements. Sadly, I am yet to hear even one point by point rebuttal,” he wrote.
The BJP leader was perhaps not aware that Yashwant Sinha’s son Jayant Sinha , who is a minister in the Modi Cabinet, wrote a response to his father’s piece in another English daily on Thursday, in which he has called the current state of Indian economy “robust” and claimed the years since 2014 marks a new phase in the evolution of the economy.
Sinha, who has often defied his party line on various issues, ended his Twitter rant with the following message: “Hope, wish and pray that all those people who matter in our party ponder over what has been said by Mr. Yashwant Sinha and remedial action is taken soon, sooner the better. Long live BJP/NDA. Jai Hind!”
