Yashwant Sinha also criticised Arun Jaitley for taking no action against black money holders
Highlights
- Yashwant Sinha said those who never won a Lok Sabha seat attacked him
- He said if he were a job applicant, Mr Jaitley wouldn't be Minister
- He also accused Mr Jaitley of ignoring the hardships he faced in politics
Former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha today attacked Arun Jaitley again, saying that if he were a "job applicant" at 80, then Mr Jaitley would not be the country's Finance Minister. Mr Sinha also told the media that those who had never won a Lok Sabha election were questioning and attacking him and misleading the people of the country over the issue of black money.
"If I would have been a job applicant, then he would not have been (there)," he said in response to Mr Jaitely, who on Thursday described Mr Sinha as a '
job applicant at 80'.
Mr Jaitley also accused him of "acting in tandem" with Congress leader P Chidambaram.
Asked about his relations with Mr Chidamabaram, Mr Sinha said, "He is not my friend. But he is a friend of Jaitley."
Lashing out at Mr Jaitley, Mr Sinha said, "He has forgotten my background. I have faced several hardships after entering politics."
He also said that he quit the Indian Administrative Services job 12 years before his retirement.
Reminding Mr Jaitley of veteran BJP leader LK Advani's appeal not to make personal attacks, something Mr Jaitley himself spoke about on Thursday, Mr Sinha said he was ready to have a debate with the Finance Minister.
He found fault with Mr Jaitley for not winning a Lok Sabha election.
"After entering politics, I selected my constituency soon. It did not take me 25 years to select a Lok Sabha constituency. Those who have not seen the face of the Lok Sabha are questioning and attacking me."
Mr Jaitley fought his first Lok Sabha election in 2014 from Amritsar but lost. Mr Sinha insisted that he was not making any personal attack on anyone.
Criticising Mr Jaitley for taking no action against black money holders, Sinha asked, "Three years ago, HSBC Bank shared the names of over 700 people (holding black money abroad) with India. How many of them have been arrested? Has action been taken against them?"
He accused the Finance Minister of misleading the people over the issue of black money and the so-called Panama Papers.
"Due to Panama Papers, the Pakistan Prime Minister has had to resign. But why no action is being taken here?" he asked.