Govt. comes to Arvind Subramanian's rescue

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday backed Arvind Subramanian, who is the latest in the line of fire from BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, and said the government has 'full confidence' in the Chief Economic Advisor.

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Jaitley, at a press briefing, said the BJP does not share Swamy's views, adding that the Chief Economic Advisor's advise to the government in economic matters have been of 'great value'.

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"The government has full confidence in Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian. His advice to the government from time-to-time has been of great value," he said.

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"The party has said they don't share Dr Swamy's view. I will also add one more fact, from the point of view of discipline of Indian politicians, to what extent should we attack those, the discipline and constraints of whose offices prevent them from responding. And this has happened more than once," he added.

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When asked if it was time to reign in comments from people like Swamy, Jaitley said, "Thank you for the suggestion."

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Swamy earlier said that he wants Arvind Subramanian to be sacked, as he had badmouthed India in the international arena and had also encouraged the grand old party to become rigid on their GST Bill clauses.

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Earlier in the day, Swamy had launched a scathing attack on Arvind in a series of tweets.

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"Who said to US Cong on 13/3/13 the US should act against India to defend US Pharmaceuticals interests? Arvind Subramanian MoF !! Sack him!!! Guess who encouraged Congi to become rigid on GST clauses ? Jaitely's economic adviser Arvind Subramanian of Washington DC," he tweeted.

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Speaking to ANI here after he tweeted against Arvind, Swamy reiterated his salvo he had used against RBI Chief Raghuram Rajan, saying that the CEA was a 'green card holder' and was probably not an Indian citizen.

The BJP leader also said that he had a list of 27 people with him and that he will 'fix' them soon.

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Swamy had earlier in May written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking for the dismissal of the Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan.

Rajan last week announced that he would return to academic world at the end of his term on September 4, 2016, adding he will always be available to serve his country when needed and asserted that his 'successor' would take the nation to new heights.