This Article is From Oct 25, 2017

Rahul Gandhi's Latest Dig At Arun Jaitley Is Inspired By Star Wars

The Finance Minister and top officials of his ministry made detailed presentations on the state of the economy on Tuesday, saying macro economic fundamentals are strong and that GDP growth is poised to take off after a slump to a three-year low of 5.7 per cent in the first quarter.

Rahul Gandhi's Latest Dig At Arun Jaitley Is Inspired By Star Wars

On Monday Rahul Gandhi said the new national tax GST is "Gabbar Singh Tax" (File Photo)

Highlights

  • Rahul Gandhi mocks Centre's 9 lakh crore plan to boost economy
  • "Dear Mr Jaitley, May the Farce be with you," he tweeted
  • Rahul Gandhi earlier said national tax GST is "Gabbar Singh Tax"
New Delhi: The next jibe in Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi's movie analogy series is addressed directly to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who unveiled a 9 lakh crore plan to boost the economy yesterday.

"Dear Mr Jaitley, May the Farce be with you," tweeted the 47-year-old Congress leader, a witty take on the cult phrase from Star Wars. On Monday, Mr Gandhi said the new national tax GST is the "Gabbar Singh Tax" after the iconic villain in Bollywood blockbuster Sholay. A villain that "covets people's earnings," he explained a day later.
 
Today, Mr Gandhi was referring to the government's statement that the real GDP growth average is 7.5 per cent in the last three years that the BJP has been in power at the Centre.

The Finance Minister and top officials of his ministry made detailed presentations on the state of the economy on Tuesday, saying macro economic fundamentals are strong and that GDP growth is poised to take off after a slump to a three-year low of 5.7 per cent in the first quarter. Mr Jaitley described it as a "temporary hiccup" as structural reforms happen and said "there are a lot more benefits in the medium and long term," defending the government's two key policies demonetisation and GST, which Mr Gandhi and his party have blamed for the economic slowdown.

"The real GDP growth average is 7.5% in the last three years," said Subhash C Garg, secretary in the department of economic affairs yesterday, also stating that a number of indicators show "the worst is over and we are now back on the path to a high rate of growth in the next many quarters to come."

The government also announced an infusion of Rs. 2.11 lakh crore in public sector banks to boost lending and said 83,677 km of highways would be built at an investment of 6.9 lakh crore in the next five years, stating it would create 14 crore man days of jobs.

Senior Congress leader and former union minister Anand Sharma accused the government of "consistently trying to project a fictitious image of the economy," adding, "and then they talk about generating 14.2 cr 'man days' of jobs."

"The government should put its money where its mouth is," Mr Sharma said, and added, "Demonetisation, GST are still being staunchly defended by the government. The very decisions that upset the economy are being hailed as reforms."

Mr Jaitley had offered a stinging riposte to Rahul Gandhi's comments yesterday, saying, "Those who are used to the 2G scam and the coal scam will naturally have objections to a legitimate tax programme."
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