New Delhi,april 1:
Known for his frank and often scathing views, Subramanian Swamy said on Monday that there is no love lost between him and finance minister Arun Jaitley. Speaking at Zee News’ India Ka DNA conclave, Swamy said that the BJP will win the upcoming Lok Sabha election but also added that he was not impressed by certain economic policies of the last five years. “I am not happy with how India’s economic policy has been tackled by the Finance Ministry. Demonetisation was not properly implemented although the concept was good. There are still a lot of taxes and there is no clear policy on it. Jaitley (Finance Minister Arun Jaitley) does not know economics,” he said.
Asked about his professional equation and opinion with and of Jaitley, Swamy had a tongue-in-cheek reply. “I have no love for Arun Jaitley. I do not know him. There have been a lot of people who don’t know economics but become Finance Minister. Jaitley and Chidambaram are not economists. Manmohan Singh was a Finance Minister who knew economics,” he said. “Jaitley has failed on the economic front.” Commenting on how there is no real competition in the upcoming Lok Sabha election, Swamy said that BJP will get another term in offie. “Modi will be back in power in 2019. He has no challenge. More than ‘Brand Modi’, it is BJP’s Hindutva and nationalism which will ensure the party’s win in 2019. Even in 2014, there was no ‘Brand Modi,’ it was a media creation.” The first of seven phases of voting in Lok Sabha 2019 election will take place on April 11 with BJP and Congress engaging each other in an intense tussle.
