Former union finance minister, Yashwant Sinha, has hit back at the Centre’s Narendra Modi government by saying that if his son, Jayant Sinha, was so competent on economy, why was he shifted out of the finance ministry.

This was after Jayant wrote counter article, perceived to be in response to his father’s scathing piece published in The Indian Express crucifying the central government for the current mess in the Indian economy. Astonishingly, his Times of India column was shared from the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Twitter handle.

Sharing his newspaper article, the PMO’s official Twitter handle wrote, “Minister @jayantsinha writes on ‘New economy for new India.’ ”

The two-term former finance minister told PTI, “But if they (the government) thought he (Jayant) was very competent to reply to the points which I have raised, then my question is why was he shifted from the ministry of finance?”

He said that if anyone had prompted him to write a piece against his father then ‘it is a cheap trick.’

He added, “If someone has asked him (Jayant) to write the piece, then it is a cheap trick to play…I have not spoken to him (on the issue). Will do it some time to find out (what exactly happened).”

Many believed that Sinha’s unprecedented criticism have rattled both Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Modi. On the day Modi shared Jayant’s counter article on the Indian economy, a visibly irritated Jaitley indulged in name calling as he launched personal attacks against Sinha.

In a no holds barred attack, Jaitley on Thursday called Sinha a “job applicant at 80” and accused him of “acting in tandem” with Congress leader P. Chidambaram, also a former finance minister. Jaitley did not stop here. He took potshots at Sinha by referring him as former finance minister, who had now become a newspaper columnist.

At the launch of a book event, Jaitley said, “Probably a more appropriate title for the book would have been ‘India @70, Modi @3.5 and a job applicant @80′”, an apparent dig at Sinha who is 84.

Many analysts feel that the criticism of the economic policies including demonetisation and the rolling out of GST had left the current government exposed in light of them much-touted claims of building a new India.

Modi will be seeking re-election in less than two years’ time, but Gujarat assembly elections are due in December this year. The BJP, which is already on a sticky ground in Gujarat, simply not prepared to give Congress an opportunity to wrest power in a state that’s been its bastion for more than 20 years.