Manmohan great only as FM, not PM: Arun Jaitley

A day after former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh criticised the government for not doing enough to revive economic growth, finance minister Arun Jaitley hit back saying India’s reform process got stalled under Mr Singh’s leadership. “To be fair to him (Singh), he did a great job as an FM in initiating reforms. That process stalled when he became the PM,” Mr Jaitley said while speaking at the CNN Asia Business Forum 2016 during the Make In India Week in Mumbai.

Earlier, Mr Jaitley in a Facebook post said the transition from the United Progressive Alliance to NDA government has been from “policy-paralysis” to a global “bright-spot” while Congress' stand on the crucial GST Bill has been motivated by “real politics”.

Mr Jaitley had further said that unlike in the UPA regime when policies were framed from Congress headquarters at 24, Akbar Road, in the NDA government Prime Minister Narendra Modi has the last word.