As Congress upped the ante against the Centre over inflation and GST, party leader Rahul Gandhi attacked finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman for her handling of the Indian economy. Addressing a press conference at the All India Congress Committee headquarters in Delhi, Gandhi said that the finance minister has “absolutely no understanding” of the prevailing economic situation in the country. (Also Read | ‘Does Congress have democracy?’ asks BJP, says ‘5 lakh for 5K crore….’)
“I think the macroeconomic fundamentals that she is talking about is something else. I don’t think the finance minister has any understanding of what is going on in the economy of India, zero understanding. She is there as a mouthpiece,” he said.
The Lok Sabha member from Wayanad said that the government feels threatened by the issues of price rise, unemployment, the unfulfilled promises, and the power of the people.
“Why do they fear? Because they tell lies. They lie 24 hours,” Gandhi said, referring to the government’s denial of unemployment, price rise, and alleged Chinese encroachment.
Without naming anyone, the Congress leader alleged that the sole agenda of the government is not to raise people’s issues and to protect the interest of four to five people.
On the issue of summons from the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the National Herald case, Gandhi said, “Question all you want. There is absolutely nothing there, everybody knows it. My job is to resist the idea of the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) and I am going to do it. The more I do it, the more I will be attacked, the harder I will be attacked. I am happy, attack me.”
He stressed that the Bharatiya Janata Party attacks the Gandhi family because it “fights for an ideology and there are crores of people like us.”
“We fight for democracy, for communal harmony and we have been doing this for years. It’s not just me who did that, it has been happening for years,” he added.
He further said, “It hurts us when Hindus-Muslims are pitted against each other, when Dalits are killed,when a woman is thrashed. So, we fight. This isn’t just one family, this is an ideology.”
