Article : "Lessons for Rahul Gandhi from his Partyman" by Union Minister, Shri Arun Jaitley on 01 October 2018

Lessons for Rahul Gandhi from his Partyman

-        Arun Jaitley

          The Congress Party, for the last few days, has been busy spreading disinformation about the Government’s possible moves in relation to the private sector company IL&FS.  The Congress is a national saboteur.  It wants to sabotage India’s economy by allowing a situation in relation to a company to persist, expand and become unmanageable.  It lacks statesmanship and vision.

          The financial institutions’ investment in any company – ‘is it a scam’ as Rahul Gandhi and his coterie are spreading?    Was it a scam in 1987 when the IL&FS was promoted with the Central Bank of India having 50.5% shares and the UTI having 30.5% shares?  Was it a scam in 2005 when LIC acquired 15% stake in IL&FS and in March, 2006 when it acquired another 11.10% stake in the IL&FS?  In fact, LIC further bought 19.34 lakh shares in IL&FS in 2010.  Do I start calling all these investments today ‘a scam’ as per ‘the perverted Rahul Gandhi school of thinking?’  From where has he invented a proposal of Rs.91,000 crores investment likely to take place by LIC and SBI in the IL&FS?  In fact, it is the section of the Congress leadership which has been urging me to enable investments in the IL&FS and save the company.  A senior congress leader, Prof. K.V. Thomas, who is a former Union Minister and has been the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, has written to me on 20^th September, 2018 making such a request.  I am enclosing his letter.  It demolishes every word that Rahul Gandhi and his coterie has been spreading. It may be advisable for Rahul Gandhi to get some ‘words of wisdom’ from Prof. K.V. Thomas.  The Congress Party must remember that ‘the days of crony capitalism are over.’  The NDA Government deals with such challenges objectively and professionally.