FM rejects Rahul’s Union Budget charges, throws open challenge
I would like him to give exact specific gaps in the Budget to prove each one of these things that he’s throwing at the budget. I challenge him on it.-Nirmala Sitharaman, FM
New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman dismissed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s criticism of the Union Budget as “uninformed”, as she challenged him to stand before her and substantiate his claims of gaps in the Budget with evidence from the document.
Responding to Gandhi’s charge that the Budget ignored unemployment, rural distress and a slowdown in manufacturing, Sitharaman, in an interview, said the allegations had “absolutely no basis” and accused the Congress leader of making sweeping claims without specifics.
“I challenge him to point out any paragraph in the Budget that supports these accusations,” she said, adding that the government had focused on youth skilling, entrepreneurship and emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence.
Sitharaman also gave details of the Budget that blends traditional support for agriculture and rural jobs with a renewed push for skilling and youth-centric training frameworks to meet emerging labour market needs. Asked about the criticism levelled by Gandhi, the minister said she would be giving credibility to an allegation which has absolutely no basis. After providing for all this, “where is he coming with these arguments? Please ask him to highlight any paragraph which reveals any of this”, she added.
