Arun Jaitley made a mess of economy, says Yashwant Sinha

In an article, Sinha, the former union finance minister, criticised the way Jaitley handled the ministry.

Sinha said: "I shall be failing in my national duty if I did not speak up even now against the mess the finance minister has made of the economy."

"I am also convinced that what I am going to say reflects the sentiments of a large number of people in the BJP and elsewhere who are not speaking up out of fear," he added.

The veteran leader has accused Jaitley of instilling fear in the minds of Indians.

"We protested against raid raj when we were in opposition. Today it has become the order of the day. Post demonetisation, the income tax department has been charged with the responsibility of investigating lakhs of cases involving the fate of millions of people. The Enforcement Directorate and the CBI also have their plates full. Instilling fear in the minds of the people is the name of the new game," Sinha said in the article.

Sinha, who was the finance minister in Vajpayee government, even did not spare prime minister Narendra Modi as he said the bluffs fail in front of reality.

"The prime minister claims that he has seen poverty from close quarters. His finance minister is working over-time to make sure that all Indians also see it from equally close quarters," he said digging at both Modi and Jaitley.

Reacting to Sinha's article and quoting few of the lines from it, former finance minister P Chidambaram, tweeted to say: "Yashwant Sinha speaks Truth to Power. Will Power now admit the Truth that economy is sinking?"