However, Dr. Swamy’s attack against Dr. Subramanian has come as a surprise to many, given the fact that, unlike Dr. Rajan, who was appointed by the previous Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, he had been appointed as Chief Economic Adviser by the Modi government.
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“AS (Arvind Subramanian) to US Cong: “US initiatives by discriminating against India companies and exporters will exert pressure on India to open up” AS 13/3/13!”, Swamy tweeted. “Trojan horses galore in MoF/ Finance Institutions”.
His attack on Das prompted Jaitley, who was away in Beijing, to take to Twitter and launch a counter: “An unfair and false attack on a disciplined civil servant in the Finance Ministry”.
On being questioned with regard to RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan’s exit, Jaitley invalidated suggestions that the government and the BJP did not speak in support of Rajan in the face of Swamy’s attacks. This is totally out-of- context as Arvind Subramanian was arguing that U.S. should use appropriate forum for redressal rather bully any country. The timing of his allegations is suspect as Arvind Subramanian is in the race for the next RBI governor. “This shows that Swamy is an unofficial spokesperson of Modi”, Punia said, asserting that Swamy’s attacks have suited Modi.
On Wednesday, Jaitley had defended Subramanian with vigour and cautioned against the trend of politicians attacking persons whose “office and discipline constrain them from responding”.
As opposition Congress saw Swamy’s real target in Jaitley, IT and Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad responded saying, “integrity of Arun Jaitley is impeccable”. The moot point under these circumstances is how far will the Swamy-Jaitley tussle be allowed to stretch by the party bosses?
“Subramaniam Swamy now guns for Arvind Subramanian, Economic Advisor to NDA”.
Another spokesperson, Abhishek Singhvi, tweeted: “What has Arvind Subramanian done to tick Modi and Amit Shah off that Swamy is gunning for his sacking?” Some of Swamy’s backers also say his “credentials” as an economist have been overlooked by both the Vajpayee and Modi governments.
Prior to this, Subramanian Swamy had made a target of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Raghuram Rajan, who was the earlier Economic Adviser and into whose shoes Arvind Subramanian stepped into. Last week, Rajan announced that he was not taking a second term. I have nothing to do with what Jaitley says.
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Referring to the party’s statement distancing itself from Swamy’s latest attack, the minister said even the BJP does not concur with Swamy’s views.
