Jaitley hits back at Manmohan

​New Delhi: Taking a swipe at former PM Manmohan Singh over his criticism of demonetisation, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said that it is no surprise that he (Singh) is unhappy as "maximum blackmoney was generated" under his rule.

Rejecting Singh's contention that GDP growth will plunge by 2 per cent, he said demonetisation will have positive impact on the economy over medium to long term as the money from shadow economy will find its way into the mainstream.

"Those who did not consider the generation of so much black money and scams during their regime as blunder are now finding the crusade against black money as blunder," Jaitley said.

As the Rajya Sabha was repeatedly adjourned with Opposition insisting that the Prime Minister be present during the entire debate, Jaitley lashed out at the opposition saying it was not keen on debate but on disruption.

"The government position is very clear from the day one that we are ready for the debate.... the Opposition was finding excuses to avoid discussion but today morning they were taken by surprise when we announced that the Prime Minister will participate in the debate,” he said.

"Now they are inventing and manufacturing reasons to escape the debate," Jaitley told reporters here.