FM Nirmala Sitharaman counters Rahul Gandhi's LS speech, calls him 'Doomsday man of India'

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday lashed out at former Congress president Rahul Gandhi for his "hum do humare do" and "crony capitalism" jibe on the government. While replying to the Budget discussions in Lok Sabha, Finance Minister spoke about the agriculture allocation and said that benefits worth 1.15 lakh crore to over 10 crore farmers have been given through PM SVANidhi Yojana (PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi).

FM Sitharaman hits out at Rahul Gandhi

Reiterating her 'Damad' jibe referring to Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra, she said, "PM SVANidhi Yojana, for those who are constantly accusing us of dealing with cronies - SVANidhi does go to cronies. Damads get land in states which are governed by some parties - Rajasthan, Haryana once upon a time."

Mocking Rahul Gandhi's jibe, she said, "Hum do hamare do' is that - we are two people taking care of party and there are two other people who I have to take care, daughter and damad will take care of that. We don't do that. Rs 10,000 is given to 50 lakh street traders as working capital for 1 year. They are not anyone's cronies."

"Where are the cronies? They are hiding probably in the shadow of that party which has been rejected by the people. The shadows who were invited to even develop a port. They invited, no open tenders, no global tenders. Who are our cronies? Our cronies are the common 'Janta' of this country," Finance Minister said. The Finance Minister also accused Rahul Gandhi of creating fake narratives on various issues and joining hands with "break India fringe groups". She went on to call him, "Doomsday man of India' and posed 10 questions about his speech. 

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FM Nirmala Sitharaman said the Union Budget 2021-122 has set the pace for India to become Aatmanirbhar. She also said the challenges of pandemic did not deter the government from undertaking reforms for maintaining long term goals of the country.

"The reforms undertaken will lay the path for India to become one of those fastest-growing economies in the world," she said, adding the Budget has set the pace for India to become Aatmanirbhar or self-reliant.

Earlier this month, the Finance Minister presented a Rs 34.5 lakh crore Budget for 2021-22 in the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Budget has laid emphasis on increasing capital expenditure, raising allocation for healthcare capacity building and development of agriculture infrastructure, among others, which are expected to have a multiplier effect on the economy.

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(With agency inputs)