Yashwant Sinha attacks again, pouring scorn on BJP and its supporters over bypoll results and GDP figures

Former Union Minister Yashwant Sinha, who has gone from being a senior leader of the BJP to one of its staunchest critics, has aired his views on the two biggest stories of Thursday -- the big bypoll results, and the big Gross Domestic Figure (GDP) growth rate figures -- pouring scorn on his former party as well as its supporters.

On the bypoll results, Yashwant Sinha has gone sarcastic, directing a short but pointed dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is currently approaching the end of a 5-day visit to Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

Taking To Twitter, Sinha, a former External Affairs minister, has written:

"What if Modi has lost Kairana etc. He is winning in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore."

Sinha is referring to the crucial Lok Sabha bypoll in Uttar Pradesh's Kairana where the BJP's candidate Mriganka Singh, daughter of BJP leader Hukum Singh whose death had necessitated the bypoll, lost to RLD candidate Tabassum Hasan who had the combined backing of the Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress. The BJP also lost in Bhandara-Gondia in Maharashtra but won in Palghar in the same state, meaning that it was able to retain only one of its three Lok Sabha seats where bypolls were held.

The second dig Sinha has taken is over the GDP figures that were released on Thursday that stated that India's economy grown at a rate of 7.7% in the Jan-March quarter of FY 2017-18 and was estimated to have grown 6.7% overall.

While the 7.7% growth rate ensured India remains the fastest growing major economy in the world, something that former Finance Minister Sinha will doubtless be aware of, he has contrasted the figure with the prevailing petrol and diesel prices which have hit historic highs.

He wrote on Twitter: "All those who are celebrating 7.7% are also enjoying the petrol and diesel prices, I hope."