Jaitley said the CSO, in 2015, changed the way of calculating Gross Domestic Product (GDP). GDP growth rate estimates were revised from the year 2012-13 onwards with 2011-12 being the base year.
“The debate whether India should be a dynastic democracy has been ignited by a self-goal of the Congress Party," said Jaitley.
Jaitley, however, added that the extra funds, which may accrue from the new capital framework of the Reserve Bank, can always be used for poverty alleviation programmes over the years by future governments.
In a Facebook post titled “The Legacy Of 1984”, Jaitley accused the Congress government of allowing the militancy in Punjab to go unchecked, anticipating elections towards the end of 1984.
The state, under the BJP rule, has shed its "Bimaru" (backward, laggard) tag and become "aspirational", Jaitley said.
Jaitley said he saw the reality of state parties in the country, but the nucleus of the coalition should be a party with a large political base and not a miniscule political base.
“It is believed that Andhra’s move is not motivated by any particular case, but by the fear of what is likely to happen. I am not saying anything more than that at the moment,” he added.
Speaking to reporters after releasing BJP's manifesto in Bhopal ahead of the Madhya Pradesh Assembly Elections, Jaitley said that demonetisation has increased the tax return filings and also increased the revenue of the states and the Centre immensely.
Jaitley said that every political viewpoint these days was able to find "some space in some section or the other", and pointed out that the social media permitted individual citizens to express their opinions freely.
"Modi has admitted to his theft in the Supreme Court. In the affidavit, he admitted to changes in the contract without asking the Air Force and putting Rs 30,000 crore in Ambani's pocket," Gandhi tweeted in Hindi.
But the minister was silent on Rajan's criticism of the note-ban, which has disrupted everyone's life in general and that of small traders and small businesses in particular.
Terming the criticism, that almost the entire cash money got deposited in the banks post demonetisation, as 'ill-informed', Jaitley said confiscation of currency was not an objective of demonetisation.
In a sudden move that took everyone by surprise, PM Modi had on this day in 2016, announced a ban on the currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000.
Jaitley pointed out that confiscation of currency was not an objective of Demonetisation, adding getting it into the formal economy and making the holders pay tax was the broader objective.
In 2017, India became the sixth largest economy with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of USD 2.59 trillion, relegating France to the seventh position.
The finance minister attributed the rise in the tax mop-up to lower tax rates and higher compliance.
Jaitley's comments reflect a growing tension between the RBI and the government, days after the central bank Deputy Governor Viral Acharya made a bold pitch for autonomy and independence in the banking regulator's functioning.
Delivering the first Atal Bihari Vajpayee Memorial Lecture at the India Ideas Conclave in New Delhi he asked whether Indira Gandhi or Rajiv Gandhi have ever gone to a congregation where 'Bharat ke tukde honge' slogan was raised.
Exhorting the Kashmiris to unitedly fight against terrorism, he said it is absolutely essential for all of us that in this battle, we need the Kashmiri people on our side.
The finance minister asserted that the govt was only interested in maintaining professionalism, the image and the institutional integrity of the CBI.
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