FM Nirmala Sitharaman counters Rahul Gandhi's LS speech, calls him 'Doomsday man of India'

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday lashed out at former Congress president Rahul Gandhi for his "hum do humare do" and "crony capitalism" jibe on government. While replying to Budget discussions in Lok Sabha, Finance Minister spoke about agriculture allocation and said that benefits worth 1.15 lakh crore to over 10 crore farmers have been given through PM SVANidhi Yojana (PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi).

FM Sitharaman hits out at Rahul Gandhi

Reiterating her 'Dam' jibe referring to Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vra, she said, "PM SVANidhi Yojana, for those who are constantly accusing us of dealing with cronies - SVANidhi does go to cronies. Dams get land in states which are governed by some parties - Rajasthan, Haryana once upon a time."

Mocking Rahul Gandhi's jibe, she said, "Hum do hamare do' is that - we are two people taking care of party and re are two or people who I have to take care, daughter and dam will take care of that. We don't do that. Rs 10,000 is given to 50 lakh street trers as working capital for 1 year. y are t anyone's cronies."

"Where are cronies? y are hiding probably in show of that party which has been rejected by people. shows who were invited to even develop a port. y invited, open tenders, global tenders. Who are our cronies? Our cronies are common 'Janta' of this country," Finance Minister said.  Finance Minister also accused Rahul Gandhi of creating fake narratives on various issues and joining hands with "break India fringe groups". She went on to call him, "Doomsday man of India' and posed 10 questions about his speech. 

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FM Nirmala Sitharaman said Union Budget 2021-122 has set pace for India to become Aatmanirbhar. She also said challenges of pandemic did t deter government from undertaking reforms for maintaining long term goals of country.

" reforms undertaken will lay path for India to become one of those fastest-growing ecomies in world," she said, ding Budget has set pace for India to become Aatmanirbhar or self-reliant.

Earlier this month, Finance Minister presented a Rs 34.5 lakh crore Budget for 2021-22 in backdrop of COVID-19 pandemic. Budget has laid emphasis on increasing capital expenditure, raising allocation for healthcare capacity building and development of agriculture infrastructure, among ors, which are expected to have a multiplier effect on ecomy.

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(With ncy inputs)