Shiv Sena on Friday came in strong support of Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy over his demand for the removal of Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian even as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that the government had full faith in CEA.
In an editorial in party's mouthpiece Saamana, the Sena said the BJP “cannot disown” the comments of Swamy.
Highlights of the editorial:
♦ The tussle involving (RBI Governor) Raghuram Rajan, Jaitley, Swamy and Arvind Subramanian has only exposed the BJP’s inner conflict. We have a feeling of attachment towards Swamy because he is famous for his stand on Hindutva and corruption.
♦ (Congress leaders) Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi must be having nightmare of him. The 2G spectrum and National Herald scams came to light because of his initiative, and, at that time the BJP used Swamy completely.
♦ Now if Swamy is speaking some truth in his own way, the BJP cannot disown his comments saying they are his personal opinions.
♦ The cracks that have developed due to corruption, inflation and black money cannot be easily plugged. We do not know what Swamy got by attacking two people related to the economy (Raghuram Rajan and Arvind Subramanian). But, he has good knowledge in this field.
♦ Raghuram Rajan is not seeking a second term and the credit for his exit goes to Swamy.
♦ Congress leader Digvijaya Singh's allegations that Swamy would be named as the finance minister of the country is foolishness.
♦ People, who raise eyebrows when Sena takes a stand and questions the stance of the government on internal security and Kashmir issues, are maintaining a stoic silence over their own party’s conflicts.
Swamy had created a flutter on Wednesday with his tweets demanding sacking of Subramanian. "Who said to US Cong on 13/3/13 the US should act against India to defend US Pharmaceuticals interests? Arvind Subramanian MoF (Ministry of Finance)!! Sack him!" he had said. However, Jaitley came out in strong defence of the noted economist while the BJP distanced itself from Swamy's remarks.
Swamy had also publicly attacked Raghuram Rajan, saying he was "mentally not fully Indian" and also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding that he be denied an extension. Last week, Rajan announced that he was not taking a second term.
