Wisdom can’t be inherited: Jaitley takes a dig at Rahul Says, Congress has no ideology except ignorance and anti-Modism

Union Minister without portfolio Arun Jaitley on Wednesday had a dig at Congress President Rahul Gandhi rediscovering the importance of millions of self-employment opportunities for which Prime Minister Modi launched the Mudra Yojana way back in 2015 to provide them small loans for setting up own small enterprises.

He was referring to the entrepreneurial skills of Shikanjiwalas, dhabawalas and mechanics about whom Rahul spoke at an Other Backward Classes (OBC) convention here on Monday. He hailed Rahul for seeing virtues in these professions which can act as a launch pad for many start-ups. "What he claimed before the audience is precisely what we have successfully implemented."

Jaitley said the same day former finance minister P Chidambaram said frying pakodas was not the job creation in an attempt to neutralise the success story of Mudra Yojana that helped 12.90 crore from weaker sections to get loans worth Rs 6 lakh crore for self-employment and led to millions of hands generating new work for themselves and for those they employ.

Referring to a score of recent statements by Rahul and other Congress leaders, he said there is no ideological pattern except ignorance and an anti-Modism as a common thread. Asserting that ideology takes a back seat in the "dynastic political parties," Jaitley dubbed the Congress shedding crocodile tears for the OBCs as an opportunism as it once opposed the OBCs.

"You can run down jobs created by frying pakodas. You can quantify on the virtues of running a dhaba. The leader's ill-informed instincts become the ideology. This can only happen to a party which becomes ideology-less; pushes itself to the fringe and willing to act as a tail-ender to regional parties. All this because its only obsession is a person called Narendra Modi," Jaitley said.