When Arun Jaitley quoted James Bond dialogue in parliament

New Delhi, Aug 24: Arun Jaitley, who as finance minister steered landmark reforms such as a nationwide goods and services tax and a bankruptcy code, passed away in All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi on Saturday. He was 66.

In one of the heated discussion in the Lok Sabha on the French Rafale aircraft deal, Jaitley fought a bruising battle on behalf of the absent Prime Minister and had quoted a dialogue by the master spy from a James Bond film.

James Bond who is fondly known for overcoming seemingly impossible and unexpected challenges could have never expected to become embroiled in an Indian Parliament debate.

Jaitley said in his speech, "The Congress president must have watched James Bond films, in which Bond says, if it happens for the first time then it is happenstance, if it happens twice it is coincidence and if it is thrice then it is conspiracy. Congress President is doing the same."

However, TMC MP Saugata Roy hit back at the Finance Minister and corrected him saying that Jaitley had misquoted it. Roy said, "Jaitley ji your memory is failing you. If it happens thrice then it is enemy action and not a conspiracy."

Jaitley got it wrong. It was the millionaire crook Auric Goldfinger, not Bond, who uttered the unforgettable lines. When the captured 007 tries to talk his way out by creating an impression that his three run-ins with the crook were by chance, Goldfinger says: "Mr Bond, they have a saying in Chicago: 'Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action'.