‘Wash your face with Dettol’: FM Nirmala Sitharaman slams Congress on corruption charges

Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday took a swipe at the Congress saying that the party should “wash their faces with Dettol” as the members levelled corruption charges against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government.

“It's in the culture of the Congress that they will level allegations. But when we will respond to them, they will stage walkouts and start shouting… In the matter of corruption, you should wash your face with Dettol,” she said.

The Finance Minister raised questions over financial policies in the Congress-led state governments and criticised the Himachal Pradesh government's move to increase the value added tax (VAT) on diesel by ₹3.

Sitharaman took a dig at Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot mentioning the slip-up incident in the assembly where he read out last year’s budget for almost seven minutes in the current budget session.

“There is something wrong in Rajasthan. Last year's budget is being read out this year,” she added.

Targeting the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Finance Minister said that "Punjab has increased VAT on petrol and diesel in February 2023, which will lead to an increase in the price of approximately Rs 95 per litre.”

Sitharaman also called the Congress-led UPA government's tenure 'trickery', citing the issue of 'oil bonds' adding that her government is repaying the burden.