The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party resorted to a war of words on Tuesday over several matters that included Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Congress leaders indulging in name-calling.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday denied seeing fugitive diamond jeweller Nirav Modi, who is a key accused in the Punjab National Bank scam, ever in person. In a Facebook post, Jaitley accused Congress President Rahul Gandhi of “concocting falsehood” by alleging that he met the fugitive businessman in Parliament and helped him escape from the country.
The finance minister annexed purported video clips of Gandhi’s speech at two separate events in Madhya Pradesh, where the Congress president is seen referring to Jaitley. The Congress president has claimed that the finance minister had admitted to meeting fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya in Parliament, where the latter purportedly told him that he was escaping to London, Jaitley said.
“He [Gandhi] says in his second speech that I have admitted that Nirav Modi also met me in Parliament. He [Gandhi] claims that I have admitted that he had a meeting with me and told me that he was going out of the country and I helped him to escape.”
“I do not recollect ever having even seen Nirav Modi in my life,” Jaitley wrote. “The question of his meeting me in Parliament does not arise. If he came to Parliament, as Rahul Gandhi claims, then reception records would show that. Where have I admitted all this, Mr Gandhi?”
The Bharatiya Janata Party leader reiterated his stance that Mallya, who was a member of Parliament, had attempted to discuss his case with him. “I did not pay any heed to him [Mallya] and coldly told him to make his proposal to the bankers,” Jaitley wrote. “This he [Gandhi] says constitutes a meeting where Mallya told me that he was escaping to London. Absolute lie.”
Jaitley questioned if Gandhi has a personality disorder because of which he lies a dozen times. “Then in self-delusion believes it to be true or is it a case of a ‘Clown Prince’ out-clowning himself?” he asked.
Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said the finance minister’s claims were the “hollow rants of a court jester”. “‘Mr Jait-Lie won’t change the truth that – You bang the truth to hide ineptitude, You bang the Rupee by your mismanagement, You bang exports by your incompetence, You bang the Economy by your incomprehension,” Surjewala tweeted. “India needs a FM, Not a ‘Babble Blogger’!!!”
The Facebook post also reiterates Jaitley’s denial of irregularities in the Rafale jet deal, a flawed Goods and Services Tax regime and Gandhi’s claims that the Narendra Modi-administration unfairly waived off loans to corporates he favoured.
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