Not a government of Sonia Gandhi where institutions can be over ruled and subverted: BJP

Coming down heavily on former prime minister Dr. Manmohan Singh who sought to know whether the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was given sufficient time to hold deliberations on the government's demonetisation move, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has said the present dispensation, unlike the UPA tenure, does not "subvert and over rule" the institutions and perform their duties mandated by the constitution.

"As far as institutions under the present dispensation is concerned, every regulator is performing their duty as mandated by the constitution and this is not the government of Sonia Gandhi where institutions can be over ruled and subverted," BJP leader G.V.L Narasimha Rao told ANI.

Rao said Singh worked as a puppet in the hands Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi and accused the former prime minister of subverting the institutions for political benefit.

"Manmohan Singh himself had lacked authority as the prime minister even when Rahul Gandhi went on a rampage and tore ordinance papers that were cleared by Singh and he talks about institutions, I find it rather curious," Rao added.

During a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Finance on Thursday Singh suggested that the panel - which is looking into the demonetisation decision - call government officials to depose before it hears RBI Governor Urjit Patel.

The issue was being discussed in presence of independent experts, including economists Rajiv Kumar and Mahesh Vyas, former chief statistician Pronab Sen and Kavita Rao of National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, who had been called to offer their views to the panel. Three of the experts were critical of the demonetisation decision.

RBI governor Patel will brief the panel on January 18 or 19 on demonetisation and its implications, while government officials, mostly from the Finance Ministry, will be asked to depose before it on January 11 or 12.