Congress targets Sitharaman over remarks on auto sector slowdown, seeks apology

The Congress party on Wednesday targeted Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman over her remarks that millennials' preference for taxi aggregators was a reason for the slowdown in automobile sector said the statement reflects the "inefficiency, immaturity and the inexperience" of BJP-led government.

Addressing a press conference here, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should seek an apology from the minister for her remarks.

"This is surprising that the Finance Minister is teaching us new economics that Ola and Uber are responsible for the slowdown in the automobile sector. The gross overstatement made by the FM is a grave joke on the economy and the country. This remarkable, unbelievable statement by the Finance Minister reflects the inefficiency, immaturity and the inexperience of BJP in governance," Singhvi said.

He said taxi aggregators Uber and Ola have been in the country for years.

"The slowdown is there for some time. How did this reason come all of a sudden?" he asked.

Finance Minister Sitharaman had said that automobile sector has been affected by several things including transition towards BS6 (Bharat Stage 6) and the mindset of millennials, who were preferring not to commit EMIs to buy automobiles but prefer to use Ola or Uber or take the metro.