New Delhi: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Tuesday that Congress president Rahul Gandhi prefers fringe stance on several issues.
In a blog post, Jaitley said, “The most alarming aspect of the Party has been that from a grand old Party which occupied centre-stage, it is being pushed to the fringe. It is not only electoral arithmetic that it occupies the fringe position but also the position that it adopts on several mainstream issues.”
He added that the fact that the Congress has been reduced to a two-digit party, referring to party’s strength of 48 in Lok Sabha, and is being ousted from state after state, demonstrates the non-acceptability of its current leadership.
Targeting Rahul Gandhi on opposing digitisation, the Union Finance Minister said, “On use of technology, he opposes the EVMs and wants to go back on ballot paper. On digitization, he prefers cash over the digital mode of transaction and having the pioneered the original idea of a Unique Identity Number, he has allowed his Party to question it both in Parliament and in the Courts.”
Jaitley said that Rahul has no qualms about releasing his photographs with a convicted ally whom he had once opposed.
“The fringe Party having got a minuscule number of votes in Gorakhpur and Phoolpur bye-elections celebrates the victory of Samajwadi Party,” Jaitley said.
Further, taking a dig at the Congress, he said, “A challenge which dynastic organisations face is that their popular appeal or acceptability is co-existent with the current generation of the dynasty.”
Jaitley also pointed out that Rahul along with certain Left Party leaders visited the Jawahar Lal Nehru University when the slogans of “Tukde Tukde” threatening India’s geographical integrity were raised.
“I had questioned its leadership in a Parliamentary debate whether its earlier leaders would have ever allowed a Congressmen to identify itself with the national disintegration campaign. But, its current leader preferred a fringe position,” Jaitley said.
Jaitley’s blog came after Rahul Gandhi launched a scathing attack on the Union Finance Minister in a tweet.
“Dear FM,”Rahul Gandhi wrote, “As you are indisposed and Finance Secretary is on vacation with his Guru on a quest for inner peace, I have decided to shut the Finance Ministry till further notice.”
“The PMO will take all financial policy decisions as before,” he concluded sarcastically, before signing,” Prime Minister”. (ANI)