Union Minister Arun Jaitley, who was in the US for medical treatment, returned home on Saturday.
With the national election barely months away, Union minister Arun Jaitley has launched an all-out attack on the Congress. From terming the Congress' stand on multiple issues as "self-contradictory" to calling the party as "institution wreakers", Mr Jaitley has shredded the charges and claims made by the grand-old party in his latest blog, the first since his return from the US where he was undergoing treatment.
"It (Congress) slaughters a cow before the cameras in Kerala, and invokes the National Security Act against the cow killers in Madhya Pradesh," Mr Jaitley said to highlight what he described as the party's inconsistency.
The post opens with criticism of the "compulsive contrarians who continued to jump from one falsehood to another" in the last two months.
On the Rs 59,000 crore Rafale fighter jet deal, Mr Jaitley said that the whole structure of the Congress' attack is based on falsehood.
"The Rafale deal not only strengthens the combat ability of the Indian Air Force but saved thousands of crores for the exchequer. When its falsehood collapsed, a half document was produced to perpetuate the falsehood. Little did the creators of this falsehood realise that the cost of producing half a document is loss of full credibility," Mr Jailtley wrote.
He was referring to a report by The Hindu that cited an internal note of the defence ministry that expressed strong reservations about the "parallel negotiations" conducted by officials of the Prime Minister's Office.
The central minister also claimed that the two speeches Congress chief Rahul Gandhi made on the controversial Rafale deal were based on his personal hatred of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "A failed student always hates the class topper," the minister said.
Arun Jaitley also accused Rahul Gandhi of "damaging the parliament". "History will record that Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru's great grandson has singularly damaged India's Parliament as an institution more than anyone else."
The blog, which is divided into sub-heads, rubbishes the opposition's criticism of electronic voting machines and called it to be an attack on the Election Commission. All non-BJP parties have been alleging that the EVMs can be tampered with and demanding the return of the ballot paper.
"The Government has consistently maintained an arm's length distance with the Election Commission. The EVMs were introduced when BJP was nowhere close to power. Multiple parties have won and lost elections held through the EVMs. Without producing a shred of evidence, the EVM's are being attacked," the post read.
Mr Jaitley also cited a recent event held in London to make his point. "The campaign became farcical when a fraudulent press conference was held by an invisible man through video in London claiming to have knowledge of the alleged 2014 rigging," he said.
Emphasising that "the government is the principal manager of the nation's economy", Mr Jaitley said, "The Government legitimately flags the issues relating to liquidity and credit availability with the RBI. How can raising legitimate issues relating to credit and liquidity availability be an interference with the RBI?"
In December, then RBI Governor Urjit Patel had resigned, citing personal reasons. The government had appointed former bureaucrat Shaktikanta Das as his successor the next day.
Moving on to another topic, the minister defended the centre's decision to refer back one of the recommendations of the Supreme Court collegium for judicial appointments, saying that the Constitution allows the government to do so. "Regarding delay in implementing the recommendations, the last five years have seen more appointments each year than done in any of the UPA years," he added.
He also claimed that the "ill-advised" press conference by four judges of the top court in January 2018 was the result of intra-court disputes rather than government interference.
He also also accused the Congress of aligning with Maoists in the Chhattisgarh elections, and backing "urban Naxals" in courts.
"Rahul Gandhi stood shoulder to shoulder with the 'Tukde Tukde' gang at the Jawaharlal Nehru University. And yet it claims to be friend of both, the idea of India and its institutions."