"Our Cronies Are The Janta": Nirmala Sitharman's Retort To Crony Slurs

Saturday, 13 February 2021Newsdesk

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today launched a scathing attack on critics - particularly the Congress - accusing the Narendra Modi government of crony capitalism, ignoring the poorer sections of society and mishandling of the farmers' protest against the agriculture laws. "Who are our cronies? Our cronies are the common 'janta' (people) of this country," Ms Sitharaman said in the Lok Sabha, ahead of her reply on budget-related questions.

New Delhi, 13 February 2021

"Where are the cronies? They're hiding probably in the shadow of that party which has been rejected by the people (a reference to the Congress). The shadows who were invited to even develop a port... they were invited. No open tenders, no global tenders," she continued. Ms Sitharaman singled out Congress MP Rahul Gandhi - who has attacked the centre over the farmers' protest and the India-China border stand-off in the past few days. The Finance Minister appeared to mock Mr Gandhi and his party for "U-turns" in their support of farmers, declaring that Congress-ruled governments in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Punjab had still not delivered on promises of loan waivers for farmers.

Source -NDTV