Should I address Congress 'poverty of mind?': Nirmala Sitharaman

New Delhi: To counter the harsh criticism she is facing on the Union government's Budget 2022-23, Finance Minister Nirmala Sithramanon Friday unleashed an attack on Congress and Rahul Gandhi while addressing the Rajya Sabha, NDTV reported. The news agency described that Sithraman adopted Prime Minister Narendra Modi's tactic.

Sitharaman brought a 2013 comment made by Rahul Gandhi that poverty is not scarcity of food, money or material but just a state of mind. Rahul had added then that if one has self-confidence, one can overcome the condition.

Sitharaman said one of Congress' former Presidents said it. She said that she wishes not to name the person but asked the Opposition to clarify whether they were asking her to address the 'poverty of mind'.

The minister then brought consumer price index figures of the country before BJP won the Union rule in 2014. The index was 9.1 per cent during the global financial crisis, but the index is 6 per cent at the moment despite the pandemic induced slow down. Sitharaman thus concluded that Congress couldn't handle a crisis lesser than Covid-19.

Further, Sitharaman said that "Rahu kal" (a reference to Rahul) is when Congress rules, promotes 'ladki hoon, lad sakti hoon' (a reference to Congress' slogan for UP elections), but girls cannot fight in Rajasthan. 'Rahu kal' is also when PM Modi brings a law but gets torn before the media hours before PM meets US President, she added. Last year, the Opposition had torn copies of farm laws ahead of Donald Trump's meeting with Modi.

Sitharaman's 2022-23 Union Budget, announced on February 1, faced flak from Congress. The party leaders had denounced it, calling it a "zero-sum budget" since it has no provisions for the middle class or the poor sections in India.