Who is India's Finance Minister, Congress asks Jaitley

New Delhi, July 13: The Congress on Friday hit back at Arun Jaitley for his Facebook post criticising the party, saying the senior BJP leader should write social media posts on who is India's finance minister and on the economic woes that "Modinomics has heaped upon India".

Union minister Jaitley, in a Facebook post titled 'The Congress Gave Slogans to Rural India -- Prime Minister Modi Gave Resources', said the Congress party in the 1970s and 1980s followed the model of "populist slogans" rather than "sound policy and actual expenditure for the welfare of the poor".

Asked about Jaitley's post, Congress's communications in-charge Randeep Surjewala, at a media briefing, said, "I would very humbly and with folded hands request Shri Arun Jaitley to write a Facebook post on who is India's finance minister. That is the most important thing he needs to do. He must solve that mystery."

Surjewala said Jaitley should write a Facebook post to clarify as to whether he is India's Finance Minister or Piyush Goyal is, so that "at least India knows, who is pushing the economy on the brink of such misery that the economy currently is."

The Congress spokesperson also urged Jaitley to write a post on the "economic woes that Modinomics has heaped upon India" Surjewala claimed that the Indian economy was in a bad shape with inflation reaching 5-6 per cent, index of industrial production going down, exports going down from Rs 19 lakh crore to Rs 10 lakh crore, Gross Fixed Capital Formation being static or reducing from about 31.5 to 28 per cent and fuel prices sky rocketing, among other issues.

"Please write a Facebook post also on the state of India's economy after telling us who is India's Finance Minister because ministers without portfolio speak about Agriculture, Agriculture Minister speaks on Defence, Defence Minister speaks on Social Justice and Social Justice Minister speaks on foreign policy. Foreign Minister does not know how to save herself from trolls being followed by the prime minister. What is happening? Is this a government or a banana republic?" Surjewala said.

He said prime minister Modi's slogan was 'minimum government – maximum governance', but now it has become 'no government'. Jaitley held the finance portfolio till he went for a kidney transplant surgery on 14 May. During the period of his indisposition, Railways Minister Piyush Goyal has been given the additional charge of the ministry.

PTI