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Government has full confidence in CEA Arvind Subramanian, as he has always provided valuable insights, said Jaitley.

New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday backed Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian, whose is under attack from BJP leader Subramanian Swamy.

”Government has full confidence in CEA Arvind Subramanian, he has provided valuable insights from time to time,” said Jaitley.

He added that BJP chief Amit Shah had categorically stated that he does not agree with Swamy on his comments against RBI chief Raghuram Rajan.
”To what extent should we attack those, the discipline and constraint of whose offices prevent them from responding?,” asked Jaitley. He observed ‘this has happened more than once’.

Earlier, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was reportedly taken aback by Subramanian Swamy’s latest salvo, fired at Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian.

According to a report, as Swamy demanded Subramanian’s sacking just a few days after concluding a volley of attacks on RBI governor Raghuram Rajan, the BJP sought to brush the matter under the carpet."That’s his opinion. We do not have to say anything," Gopal Krishna Agarwal, BJP spokesperson for economic issues, was quoted as saying.

"This is his statement. You can ask him, he is an MP. Party has nothing to say on this," Agarwal added.

But another BJP member reportedly revealed the party’s unease over the matter. "This is obviously not the official line of the party. If that was the case, he (Arvind Subramanian) would not be there. It is for the boss to really rein him in”.

The member added that the government and BJP did not need the public utterances of any member to decide the continuance of any functionary in his job.

The Finance Ministry on Wednesday defended Subramanian’s appointment, saying it knew of his stance on key issues like IPR before hand. The government had taken a considered view when it appointed the former IMF economist as CEA, sources in the ministry said.

But the BJP also seems to have put the onus of contradicting Swamy on Arvind Subramanian himself, according to the report.

Staying true to his promise of training guns on bureaucrats ’loyal’ to the Congress, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Wednesday said that he wants Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian to be sacked, as he had badmouthed India in the international arena and also encouraged Congress to become rigid on their GST Bill clauses.

"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, setting off a new storm.

Swamy’s attack comes in the wake of reports stating Arvind Subramanian being among the probable successors of Rajan as the country’s central bank chief.

Swamy tweeted, "Now PTs (Patriotic Tweeples) can understand why our core economic sectors could not perform last two years. Trojan horses galore in MoF/Fin Institutions."

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

This development comes days after Swamy announced that his next ’project’ is to expose a group of bureaucrats loyal to Congress President Sonia Gandhi.