FM Arun Jaitley accuses 'Compulsive Contrarians' of subverting the democracy

Terming opposition parties as 'Compulsive Contrarians', Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday accused them of manufacturing falsehood and subverting democracy by weakening an elected government. In a blog post Jaitley, who is undergoing medical treatment in the US, mentioned a series of examples where 'Compulsive Contrarians' had adopted double standards and manufactured falsehood when it suited them.

These include Justice Loya case, Rafale defence deal, the CBI vs CBI controversy and the RBI independence issue among others.

Citing the tirade mounted by political parties on host of issues including 10 per cent reservation for economically weaker sections and the Rafale defence deal, Jaitley said the 'Compulsive Contrarians' believe that this government can do no good and hence its every act must be opposed.

"Nations are built by those with positive mindsets and a national vigour, not by the 'Compulsive Contrarians'," he said in a Facebook blog without naming Congress or other opposition parties. "Didn't left-liberals find fault with the various actions that Gandhiji took during the freedom movement? Weakening a sovereign elected government and strengthening the unelectable is only a subversion of democracy," he wrote.

"The Compulsive Contrarians had no qualms about manufacturing falsehood. They could concoct arguments even if they went against the general interest of the country. They could masquerade corruption as crusade. They could adopt double standards whenever it suited them, he said in a Facebook post titled 'The Compulsive Contrarian and his Manufactured Logic'.

Taking a dig at the opposition, Jaitley wrote, "AADHAAR which became an instrument for saving money to ensure that it is fruitfully spent for the poor was questioned on the ground of violating personal liberty."

On demonetisation, the FM wrote, "Steps taken against black money were described as 'Tax Terrorism'. The virtues of cash which was a source of black money and fuelled corruption were discovered after demonetisation.

Also read: Food surpluses led to dip in food prices, farmers' income: Arun Jaitley

While mentioning the Justice Loya case, the FM wrote, "Every fact alleged in the public space by the Compulsive Contrarians was manufactured. The Judge died a natural death due to a cardiac stroke. The only persons with him at the time of the stroke and in hospital were his fellow Judges. The cause of the death was sought to be altered into a conspiracy for murder.

The campaign went for months altogether. Eventually, a three Judge Bench of the Supreme Court dismissed every claim made in the case. The judgment was delivered on behalf of the Bench by Justice Dhananjaya Chandrachud. He was criticized on the social media. What if the same had been delivered by Chief Justice Dipak Misra? Another vicious campaign of calumny would have been launched against him by the Compulsive Contrarians."

On Rafale case, the FM lauded the PM for saving money of the exchequer and attacked Congress for spreading fake information.

"This is a deal where Prime Minister Modi should be credited with saving thousands of crores of the country. The Congress had compromised national security by delaying the deal for over a decade. Fake and concocted figures were put into the  public domain as the purchase price of the Combat Aircrafts. Every fact was brought before the Supreme Court.

The Court conclusively rejected the challenge. The need for purchase, the quality of the Aircraft, the pricing, the process, and the offset issues were all gone into and upheld by the Court. The Contrarians were proved to be liars  and yet instead of stopping the campaign of falsehood, they started relying on an alleged dictational / typographical error to prove the judgment was wrong, " the FM in his blog said.

Taking on the opposition, Jaitley wrote, "I can go on and on with these examples. Free speech and the right to dissent are critical components of a democracy but falsehood, subversion and institutional destruction are not. The right to campaign for stifling funds to the economy in the name of the autonomy, justifying corruption in the name of institutional independence, attacking Judges when the verdict is not favourable, manufacturing facts as  in the case of Judge Loya's death and the Rafale deal are indicative of the mindset of the Compulsive Contrarians."

Edited by Aseem Thapliyal