Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday hit back at Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi over his remark that the Tata Group was being “criminally destroyed”, accusing him of politicising issues and casting baseless aspersions on Indian industry, ANI reported.
Source: ANI via LatestLY
“Being the LoP @RahulGandhi, I suggest you refrain from politicising every issue. Also, casually labelling commercial and legal matters as criminal is unacceptable,” Sitharaman wrote in a post on X, The Hindu BusinessLine reported.
Source: The Hindu BusinessLine
Gandhi had alleged that Indian businesses were being treated as the “plaything” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. “Tata is being criminally destroyed, and no business leader dares say a word. How long will you stay silent? Until they own you?” the Congress leader said, also claiming that business leaders lacked courage, IANS reported. Reports linked his remarks to the dispute over the reappointment of N. Chandrasekaran as Executive Chairman of Tata Sons.
Source: IANS via Hi India
In her reply, Sitharaman said Gandhi had repeatedly decried the successes of Indian industry and its entrepreneurs. “Now, are you trying to incite our business leaders to join you in spreading distrust & toxicity?” she asked, IANS reported.
Source: IANS via Hi India
Targeting the Congress, the Finance Minister said that for decades the party had smothered the spirit of Indian entrepreneurs under the stifling “Licence-Quota Raj” and inflicted poverty on crores of Indians, while the government led by Prime Minister Modi values industry as job creators and drivers of economic growth, with policies tailored to enable enterprise, support industry and encourage investment, ANI reported.
Source: ANI via LatestLY
Sitharaman also said the Constitution ensures justice to all citizens and the courts are entrusted with upholding it, accusing Gandhi, his party and its former prime ministers of having demeaned the judiciary, and urged him to engage constructively rather than casting baseless aspersions for narrow political motives — ending with the line, “refrain from seeing ghosts everywhere.”
As of the reports reviewed, the Tata Group had not issued a public statement responding to Gandhi's remarks, and no formal Congress reply to Sitharaman's post had been recorded. Both sets of remarks are the leaders' own claims and allegations, reported here as attributed statements.