New Delhi, June 23: Subramanian Swamy today "suspended" through a couple of derisive tweets his demand for Arvind Subramanian's ouster as the Centre's chief economic adviser and cast his net wider.

"If BJP Union govt says that we know all about Arvind Subramanian but still he is an asset, then I will suspend my demand and wait for events to prove truth," Swamy said.

"If an Indian?, held patriotic, can advise a foreign nation where he works, to twist India's arm, is to be forgiven, then I suspend my demand," the BJP parliamentarian said in another tweet.

He was alluding to a media report from October 2014 that said Subramanian had urged the US to initiate disputes against India before the World Trade Organisation if Delhi did not change its patent laws that barred global pharmaceutical companies from securing patent tenure extensions by tweaking drug formulations.

Along with the "nationalist" pitch, Swamy also raked up Subramanian's remarks on Narendra Modi when he was Gujarat chief minister. Modi is known to be sensitive to remarks about his tenure in Gujarat.

Swamy tweeted: "Who said, 'What about Gujarat? Mr Modi stands indicted as a mediocre performer (judged by tax collection & social outcomes)'." The quote was culled from an article, titled 'Is the Modi Miracle overrated?', Subramanian had written in Business Standard in January 2013, before he became the chief economic adviser.

By contesting Subramanian's "loyalty" to India, Swamy seemed to be trying to strike a chord among the BJP's rank and file. "The point he made is legitimate. Ours is a nationalist party and a nationalist government and has no place for US cronies," a party official said.

The Maharashtra and Kerala BJP units have invited Swamy to speak at events organised on the 41st anniversary of the Emergency. He will address a meeting in Thiruvananthapuram on June 25, which will be attended by veteran BJP leaders such as O. Rajagopal and the state party president Kummanam Rajasekharan.

The following day, Swamy will speak at Mumbai's K.C. College on "Emergency Lessons for Future" in the presence of Raosaheb Danve, the Maharashtra BJP chief.

Today, Swamy also picked on a new target from finance minister Arun Jaitley's team: Shaktikanta Das, the economic affairs secretary.

In a Twitter conversation on Swamy's handle, centred around the names supposedly being considered for the RBI governor's post that included Das, Swamy alleged: "I think there is a property-deal case pending against him (Das) for assisting PC (Congressman P Chidambaram) swallow Mahabalipuram (on Tamil Nadu's east coast) prime location." Das is from the Tamil Nadu IAS cadre.

Jaitley, in China to attend a conference, instantly responded in a tweet, calling Swamy's charge "an unfair and false attack on a disciplined civil servant in the finance ministry".

Government sources said a section of the BJP leadership appealed to Swamy, recently nominated to the Rajya Sabha, to "go easy" on his campaign, saying it was "hurting" its "image" when Prime Minister Modi was playing for high global stakes.

"The Prime Minister is pitching for a place for India in the Nuclear Suppliers Group. He has just unveiled a reforms agenda, hoping it will draw foreign investments. At this juncture, if a voice in the BJP begins to deride senior officials, involved in policy and decision-making, it will not send the right signals to the global community," a source said.

Asked how Swamy could possibly be contained, BJP president Amit Shah told The Telegraph: "I am confident the matter will be resolved but obviously I cannot share the details of a proposed resolution with you."

BJP sources said the Swamy tangle was more complex than what their leaders had initially thought because of its implications for the party's internal power equations.

"At first glance, it appears as though he is determinedly hitting out at Jaitleyji by aiming at the top officials in his ministry. But I cannot tell if it is his way of conveying to the Prime Minister that Jaitleyji is not the right man in the finance ministry and, therefore, he should get the job or he is voicing the concerns of the RSS family over issues like price rise, no job growth and realty stagnation," a source said.

Jaitley and Swamy have never been on the same wavelength.

BJP sources claimed Swamy was "convinced" that Jaitley had "blocked" his entry into the party for a long time even though the RSS and leaders such as L.K. Advani wanted him. He reportedly held Jaitley responsible for denying him a ticket from Delhi in the 2014 elections.

Swamy's belief, sources said, was it was Nitin Gadkari who swung his induction in the party with the RSS's help.

Gadkari, holidaying in Italy with his family, could not be contacted. Calls to Swamy's mobile phone and landline numbers did not elicit a response.