Nirmala Sitharaman hit back at Rahul Gandhi over his claim that the Tata Group is being “criminally destroyed”.
Finance Minister accused the Congress of stifling entrepreneurship through the Licence-Quota Raj and defended the Modi government's industry policies.
Sitharaman invoked the judiciary's role in upholding justice and urged Gandhi to refrain from making what she called baseless allegations.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday hit back at Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi over his remarks on the Tata Group, accusing him of politicising the issue and portraying commercial and legal matters as criminal cases.
Responding to Gandhi on X, Sitharaman urged him to refrain from making allegations for political gain and questioned whether he was attempting to encourage business leaders to join what she described as a campaign of distrust.
“Being the LoP Rahul Gandhi, I suggest you refrain from politicising every issue. Also, casually labelling commercial and legal matters as criminal is unacceptable,” Sitharaman wrote.
Her response came after Gandhi alleged that the Tata Group was being “criminally destroyed” and questioned the silence of India's business leaders.
“Tata is being criminally destroyed, and no business leader dares say a word,” Gandhi wrote on X. He asked how long business leaders would remain silent and alleged that Indian businesses were being treated as the personal property of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
“Indian business is not Modi and Shah's plaything. You lack courage. We don't. We will ensure justice for these crimes,” he added.
Sitharaman Accuses Congress Of Stifling Industry
In her response, Sitharaman criticised the Congress, accusing the party of suppressing entrepreneurship during its years in power through what she described as the “Licence-Quota Raj”.
“For decades, your party had smothered the spirit of the Indian entrepreneurs under the stifling ‘Licence-Quota Raj’ and inflicted poverty on crores of Indians,” she said.
Contrasting the Congress's record with the policies of the Narendra Modi-led government, the Finance Minister said the Centre viewed Indian industry as a source of employment and economic growth.
She said the government's policies were designed to support enterprises, strengthen industry and encourage investment.
Sitharaman also called on political parties, leaders, governments and institutions to share responsibility for supporting industry, strengthening farmers and securing the future of young people. She urged Gandhi to engage constructively rather than make what she called baseless allegations for political motives.
FM Invokes Judiciary
Sitharaman also referred to the judiciary, saying the Constitution guaranteed justice to citizens and that courts were entrusted with upholding it.
“The Constitution of India ensures justice to all its citizens and our Honourable Courts are entrusted with upholding it,” she wrote, accusing Gandhi, his party and previous Congress prime ministers of having demeaned the judiciary.
She ended her response by telling the Congress leader to “refrain from seeing ghosts everywhere”.
