New Delhi: The Congress Wednesday hit out at Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman over her millennials remark, saying it reflected the “inefficiency, immaturity, and inexperience” of the BJP in governance and demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi apologise for it.
Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi, at a press conference, said Sitharaman’s statement was a grave joke on the poor state of the economy.
The minister had said in Chennai Tuesday that the slowdown in the automobile sector was due to many factors like the change in mindset of millennials, who now prefer taxi aggregators like Ola and Uber, instead of committing for monthly installments to own a car.
Senior Congress leader and former finance minister P Chidambaram, who was sent to judicial custody in Tihar Jail last week in connection with the INX Media case, also expressed deep concern over the state of the economy and questioned the government on its plan to get the country out of this “decline and gloom.”
In a tweet his family put out on his behalf, Chidambaram said, “I am deeply concerned about the economy. The poor are the worst affected. Lower incomes, fewer jobs, less trade and lower investment affect the poor and the middle class. Where is the plan to get the country out of this decline and gloom?”
Taking a swipe at Sitharaman’s analogy, Singhvi also posed a set of 10 questions to her.
“This remarkable, unbelievable statement by the finance minister reflects the inefficiency, the immaturity and the inexperience, the three I’s, as Shri Modi would say of the BJP in governance. The gross overstatement by the FM is a grave joke on the economy, on the country. Why? Because the dip in the GDP is the real new normal for this government,” he told reporters.
“I am sure that she will not do what is deserved to be done. So may I request Modi Ji to do it for us — expunge her remarks and seek an apology from her to the nation,” he said.
Singhvi asked why the Prime Minister was not taking responsibility and steps to tackle the slowdown. “Why is he silent and hiding,” he posed.
He asked why the finance minister was more interested in cracking jokes and finding excuses instead of putting in efforts to bring the economy on track.
The Congress leader asked how would India be able to become a USD 5 trillion economy with the slowdown and wondered why steps were not taken in the recent General Budget to overcome the problem in the automobile sector.
Taking on the finance minister, he said the mobile app-based car booking system and the auto sector cannot be correlated as the sharp decline in the auto sector is spread across India, including the rural regions.
Singhvi said the car booking system had not emerged at once and has been in the country for almost a decade now. “It is not a new trend that is responsible for killing the new car market,” he said, adding that the slowdown in automobile industry did not happen all of a sudden as sales had been falling for months since July 2018.
“The finance minister should also remember that the slowdown isn’t affecting auto companies alone, but its impact is felt across sectors, throughout the economy. Have Ola and Uber become this powerful that they can impact the economy at such a large scale?” he asked.
Singhvi said the hashtags like ‘#BoycottMillennials’ and ‘#SayItLikeNirmalaTai’ are already trending on Twitter, as citizens, especially millennials are rebutting the “cruel joke” made by the Sitharaman.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, in a tweet, said, “FM blames Ola, Uber and millennials for slump in car sales. Chairman of Maruti Suzuki who knows better denies it. FM must recognise that slowdown is for real & across-the-board going far beyond only passenger cars. But in this era of ‘uber-nationalism’ anything goes?”
Earlier, reacting to Sitharaman’s remarks, Singhvi tweeted, “Yes..that’s great. Blame the voters..blame everyone but BJP’s handling of the economy Mrs Finance Minister.”
The Congress Party, in a tweet from its official Twitter handle, also took a dig at Sitharaman for her remarks.
“So the decline in bus and truck sales is also because millennials have stopped buying them as much as they used to. Isn’t that right FM Smt. @nsitharaman?” the party asked.
The Congress, in another tweet, also attacked the government over a media report claiming that crores of stocks in investor wealth has been wiped off in the first 100 days of the Modi government’s second term.
“Despite their promise of protecting wealth creators, the government’s disastrous policies have wiped away Rs 12.5 lakh crore of investor wealth in the last 100 days. Unlike the FM’s excuses, these are the real reasons for it: Demonetisation, GST, Tax Terrorism,” the party said.