Hardeep Singh Puri calls Rahul a 'jeb katra'

New Delhi: Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday responded to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's 'pickpocket' barb at the government over the levy of high taxes on petrol and diesel and described him as a 'jeb katra' who would not understand what capital expenditure is.

Speaking at the Times Now summit, Puri said he was ready to debate on economic progress and development under the Modi government. "How do you look at economic development, progress? There has been record hike in capital expenditure.

That is what is economic progress is," he said responding to the question on Gandhi's tweet of November 1 that cautioned against 'pickpockets' as he charged the government of 'profiteering' from record high fuel tax and 'fleecing' common man. Gandhi tweeted "jebkatro se savdhan" (beware of pickpocketers) before the government's November 3 announcement of a Rs 5 per litre cut in excise duty on petrol and Rs10 a litre reduction in the tax on diesel to bring down retail rates from their all-time high levels.