New Delhi: The Congress was sceptical of the government's claim that chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian was quitting for "personal reasons" as most leaders privately argued it was difficult for any independent professional to work for the current dispensation for long.
Although many leaders said it was not wise to comment publicly without ascertaining the real reason, they wondered why the chief economic adviser would leave the government at this critical juncture unless there were irreconcilable differences.
These Congress leaders pointed to previous high-profile departures and attacks by RSS outfits and leaders like Subramanian Swamy on experts, including the chief economic adviser.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his colleagues Arun Jaitley and Piyush Goyal in a tweet that did not name any of them.
"Ex ? FM is locked in his room, breaking news on FaceBook. BJP treasurer has the keys to the Indian Economy. The brightest flee the sinking ship, as the 'invisible hand' of the RSS steers it onto the rocks. Meanwhile, Captain DeMo is fast asleep. It's crazy out there!" the tweet said.
Jaitley, whose finance portfolio has been handed to Goyal while he recovers after a kidney surgery, had announced Subramanian's resignation on Facebook.
Goyal was the BJP treasurer before joining the government and the BJP has not announced a new treasurer.
Rahul rarely passes up a chance to attack Modi's demonetisation decision.
Congress communications chief Randeep Surjewala tweeted: "Financial experts of Modi Government are completely fed up by its colossal economic mismanagement, tepid economic reforms & financial anarchy. CEA Arvind Subramanian's resignation after the stepping down of Niti Aayog's Arvind Panagriya & RBI Gov Raghuram Rajan comes as no surprise!"
Surjewala also hit out at Goyal, who on Wednesday held a news conference to attack Rahul and the Opposition for allegedly using Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula's grieving mother as a political tool.
Surjewala responded with a tweet: "Utterly shameful that Union Minister Piyush Goyal is peddling fake news qua Rohith Vemula & his mother in order to tarnish Rohith's memory. Culture & mindset of hounding and insulting SCs everyday has become the DNA of Modi government. Let govt & minister apologise!"
Farmer jibe
The Congress said on Wednesday that the Prime Minister felt compelled to interact with farmers as the general election was approaching, but alleged that he only tried to mislead instead of honestly addressing the real issues the agricultural sector was grappling with.
Surjewala said Modi had failed to deliver on the promises he made in the 2014 elections, including giving minimum support price that would have input cost plus 50 per cent profit.
Modi had also avoided talking about farmers' suicides and the protests in Madhya Pradesh's Mandsaur in which six peasants had been killed in police firing last year, the Congress pointed out.
Accusing the Prime Minister of spreading lies and misleading the nation on the agrarian crisis, Surjewala alleged that the government had reduced funding for agricultural development, ensured that insurance companies gained from the crop insurance scheme and allowed import of food grain to benefit corporate houses.
