Jaitley rips into Rahul Gandhi in retaliation to attack on PM

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley hit out at Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday for accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of not consulting ministers and said the opposition leader’s views are shaped by the environment of a political party that evolved into a ‘crowd around a family’.

In a Facebook post titled ‘How much does he know – when will he know’, the finance minister said India made the right choice between the PM who leads the Government and a PM who is merely implementing decisions taken elsewhere.

“The UPA model of governance was that if a person outside the family is the Prime Minister, he should be reduced to being a figure-head. Given a choice between a ‘hands-on’ Prime Minister or a ‘nominal’ head, I would unhesitatingly choose the former,” Jaitley wrote on the social media site.

The Finance Minister said if Rahul was is to be believed, then Sushma Swaraj is not consulted on the Pakistan policy, Rajnath Singh was unware of the Nagaland accord and, presumably, he was unaware of the Budget proposals.

“As one evolves from a young to a middle-aged one, we certainly expect a certain level of maturity. The more I hear Rahul Gandhi, the more I start wondering “how much does he know – when will he know”,” he said.

Jaitley maintained that the Prime Minister should be the natural leader of the party and the Government and it was the case in the NDA. “The present Prime Minister not only works hard and involves himself in the functioning of the various departments of the government, but inspires his team to work harder than we would have normally,” Jaitley said.

He argued that each minister was responsible for the important decision and they do not by-pass the Prime Minister who is always available for consultation and guidance.