Yashwant asks Modi to fire Jaitley

 Former Union minister Yashwant Sinha said on Friday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should fire Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley over Goods and Services Tax (GST) "mess" which he said was implemented by the minister  "without applying his mind."

"This man (Jaitley) has created all the mess while bringing in GST, thereby inflicting one blow after another to the traders throughout the country," said Yashwant.

The former Union finance minister who served under Vajpayee regime was in the state capital to attend a symposium on 'Vanchit varg' (deprived section) organised by former Assembly Speaker Uday Narayan Choudhary at AN Sinha Institute.

Speaking shortly after the GST Council decided to keep only 50 items in the top 28% bracket, Yashwant said, "Instead of tinkering with the GST, it will be better if the Centre sets up a committee under noted economist Vijay Kelkar to look into the various aspects of GST. But before that, I would urge Prime Minister Narendra Modi to sack Arun Jaitley who has miserably failed as Finance Minister."

Later, talking to media, Yashwant said his son Jayant Sinha (Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation), whose name recently figured in the Paradise Papers, should be investigated "as long as Amit Shah's son Jay Shah is also investigated for allegations of benefiting from crony capitalism."

Jayant, a former venture capitalist, was named in the Paradise Papers for being one of the wealthy politicians having offshore investments. "I would appeal to the government to probe all those  people mentioned  in the Paradise Papers list. Complete the investigation within a stipulated time-frame, say 15 days or a month. But also conduct an independent assessment of Amit Shah's son," said the former minister.