BJP ministers get FM’s note-worthy gyan

Mumbai: Apparently, Union finance minister Arun Jaitley isn’t too happy his party’s spokespersons. The senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took it upon himself to hold a special tutorial for all party spokespersons via video conferencing on Monday. According to sources, it was here where the minister shared rare words of praise for P. Chidambaram, the former finance minister of the country.

The tutorial was divided into several sections, where people from across the country joined Mr Jaitley. There were a total of 33 centres from where the spokespersons interacted with the minister. In the initial part of the conference, the minister spoke on various issues related to demonetisation.

A senior leader from Mumbai, who was present during the meeting, said, “Jaitleyji told us how the Supreme Court had asked that a special investigation team be formed to look into the black money issue, but the previous government did nothing. Only once, Chidambaram tried to bring taxes on cash transaction, but that was also withdrawn owing to opposition to the move. Now, Modiji has taken this bold decision and we all need to support it.”

All the spokespersons had one question in common: how to deal with the issue of people facing trouble as they have been made to stand in queues for long hours. “We asked him what to tell people as they have been facing problems, to which he replied, ‘people need to be told that there are going to be some issues, but all will be well soon’,” said Niranjan Shetty, spokesperson Mumbai BJP, who was present in the meeting.

Meanwhile, Mr Jaitley also replied to a comment made by Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi during his visit in Mumbai last week. “Mr Gandhi had alleged that even the finance minister wasn’t aware about the note ban. To this, Mr Jaitley said that Rahul doesn’t know things and hence he made such comments,” added Mr Shetty.

The BJP is being targeted from all corners over the demonetisation decision and subsequent currency ban, as there have been deaths among those standing in queues apart from inconveniences for the common people. The saffron party’s own ally, Shiv Sena, has joined the Opposition in attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his plan, and the meeting seems to be an effort to set things right via the BJP’s spokespersons, who are the face of the party.