Yashwant Sinha stands by govt indictment, gets support from Shatrughan

Veteran BJP leader Yashwant Sinha (79) on Thursday stood by his indictment of the government's handling of the economy, encountering opposition from his son and support from another BJP colleague.

The counter came from his son and Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha (54), while Bihar MP Shatrughan Sinha (no relation) backed him.

The former finance minister on Thursday said he was forced to go public as Prime Minister Narendra Modi was yet to give him an audience despite having sought an appointment an year ago.

"I stand by my analysis. I had sought an appointment to meet the PM a year ago. He has not met me. Should I be sitting in protest outside his house?" he asked.

"We used to blame the UPA (previous government) for policy paralysis.... After 40 months in power, we can't (still) blame the earlier government," he said.

Bollywood star-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha quipped that the former union minister was following the PM's dictum of "country first, party second."

In a separate statement, former union minister and senior Congress leader Anand Sharma demanded a white paper on the state of the Indian economy. (He said banks are burdened with over Rs 9 lakh crore of non-performing assets (NPAs) and the failure of the government to infuse the capital is equally a matter of concern.)

STRONG STANCE

• He said he was forced to go public as PM hadn’t given him an audience for over a year
   
• Said used to blame UPA for policy paralysis, can’t blame still after 40 months