Arun Jaitley strikes back at Yashwant Sinha, says he does not have the luxury to be a former minister-cum-columnist

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has hit back at his former colleague Yashwant Sinha for criticising Modi Government's economic policies, namely GST and demonetization. 

“I must confess that I do not have the luxury as yet of being a former finance Minister nor do I have the luxury of being a former finance minister who has turned a columnist,” FM Arun Jaitley said on Thursday during a book launch in New Delhi. 

Sinha, former finance minister, had written an article to raise an alarm on current financial situation in the country. He said that the country's economy was in a downward spiral. 

His article essentially blamed Jaitley's too many portfolios for the lack of his attention towards a 'job which requires 24X7 attention'.

Here are the highlights of Jaitley's speech on Thursday: 

#We gave opportunity to people to come clean about their accounts held abroad: FM Arun Jaitley

#Small areas which paralysed, at least UPA 2, because of discretions being used and misused we were completely able to distance ourself from these discretions itself: FM Arun Jaitley

#Demonetisation was to make sure that the anonymous tender which operated in market gets identified to its owner: FM Arun Jaitley

#Those who had pushed the country into policy paralysis, when they saw it coming, asked to postpone it: FM Arun Jaitley on GST

#Had announced this year,how do we legitimize political funding in India so underground funding itself comes to an end;now in final stages:FM

#Prime Minister had a very strong agenda on creating a new normal as far as India shadow economy was concerned: FM Arun Jaitley

#Direct tax figures are 15.7% over & above last year's figure, so this so called slow down visualized by some, hasn't even impacted: FM

#It had corrupted us as a society, tarnished our image globally: FM Arun Jaitley

#There was no way in India you could do business without relying on alternate mechanisms of payment: FM Arun Jaitley

#When India is at 70, there are always attempts to change the narrative itself: FM Jaitley

#I must confess that I do not have the luxury as yet of being a former finance Minister nor do I have the luxury of being a former finance minister who has turned a columnist: FM Arun Jaitley

#Therefore I can conveniently forget a policy paralysis, 4 billion reserve left in 1991 and I can switch over and change a narrative: FM

#Probably a more apt title for the book would've been "India at 70, Modi at 3.5 and a job applicant at 80": FM Arun Jaitley at a book launch

#Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was speaking at the release of a book 'India@70'in Delhi.