Arun Jaitley slams Congress for hurting economy when ‘in power and as opposition’

New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for enhancing India's stature globally with his successful three-nation visit even as he accused the Congress of damaging the economy both while in government and as an opposition party.

He also said he was "deeply disappointed" with Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee's reaction to the interrogation and arrest of some of her party leaders in the Saradha chit fund scam.

In his latest Facebook post, Jaitley said that following Modi's visit to Myanmar, Australia and Fiji, India's status among the nations of the world appears to have been enhanced.

"Both India and our Prime Minister were at the center stage in the G-20 meet at Brisbane. What better recognition should there be of India's enhanced stature than (US) President (Barack) Obama agreeing to be the chief guest of India at our Republic Day parade," he said.

Jaitley, meanwhile, hit out at Congress over its "paucity of issues" as he questioned why a public sector bank giving credit to a particular business house had become a matter for public debate.

His reference was apparently to SBI's MoU with Adani Group for providing a loan of USD 1 billion (over Rs 6,000 crore) to Adani Mining, the Australian subsidiary of Adani Enterprises, for its mining project in Queensland.

"Since when has the issue of a creditor's willingness to give debt to a borrower become an issue of public debate. It entirely depends upon the debtor-creditor relationship and the credit worthiness of the debtor... This showed a paucity of issues with the Congress Party," he said.

Keeping up his attack on Congress, the Finance Minister said that without reading the relevant notifications, the party had felt that Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) would be a boon for black money.

"The notification of the KVP clearly shows (that) identity disclosure at the time of purchase of all KVPs is necessary.

If the KVP is purchased for more than Rs 50,000, PAN number has also to be given... It appears that the Congress Party had given reaction without reading the notification," he said.

Charging that Congress was planning strategies to "block" official business and legislation in Parliament, Jaitley said, "The Congress Party had damaged the national economy while in power and wants to pursue the same destructive direction while in opposition."