Congress should stop being 'obstructionists', says FM Nirmala Sitharaman

Responsible Opposition does not engage in fear-mongering, says FM Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday strongly criticised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s statement on an impending “economic” storm due to the West Asia crisis, saying that if Congress and its leaders cannot contribute positively to nation-building, they should stop being “obstructionists”.

 

“A responsible opposition does not engage in fear-mongering,” Sitharaman said in a series of tweets published late on Tuesday night.

 

She said that since 2014, the Narendra Modi government has continued to serve every sector and every section of Indian society through its policies and initiatives, and that farmers, the poor, women, youth and MSMEs are at the core of its governance structure.

 

 

On the Opposition’s allegation that the “impending” economic storm will bypass Adani and Ambani but hit the common man, Sitharaman, in a series of replies directed at the Leader of the Opposition, asked whether the 58 crore Jan Dhan accounts opened for the poor were for Adani or Ambani. She also asked whether the 57 crore Mudra loan accounts were for Adani and Ambani.

 

In a similar manner, the finance minister questioned whether the PM Vishwakarma Yojana, PM Internship Scheme, e-Shram cards, and the G-RAM-G scheme that provides 125 days of employment without leaks, as well as Ayushman Bharat and 9 crore PM-KISAN disbursements, were meant for the two corporate groups.

 

The finance minister also referred to flagship initiatives such as the PM Vishwakarma Yojana, PM Internship Scheme, Ayushman Bharat, e-Shram cards, and employment guarantee measures under the rural jobs programme, saying these were designed to support vulnerable and low-income sections.

 

She further underlined programmes aimed at women’s empowerment, including the Lakhpati Didi and Drone Didi schemes, while noting that fuel excise duty cuts and free foodgrain distribution under the PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana were intended to shield common citizens from inflationary pressures.

 

On the economic front, Sitharaman said the government had absorbed high international fertiliser prices to protect farmers and introduced the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) 5.0 to support MSMEs.

 

She said agriculture credit grew 15.7 per cent last year, while MSME credit growth stood at 33 per cent.

 

“We are focused on the welfare of common people, and the poor, farmers, youth and women are all important parts of this structure,” Sitharaman said in the tweet.