Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday accused Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi of trying to incite business leaders to spread “distrust and toxicity” over his remarks on the Tata Group, and urged him to refrain from “politicising every issue”. Responding to Gandhi’s post on X alleging that Tata was being “criminally destroyed” and that business leaders were afraid to speak out, Sitharaman said commercial and legal matters should not be casually labelled criminal.
“Being the LoP @RahulGandhi, I suggest you refrain from politicising every issue. Also, casually labelling commercial and legal matters as criminal is unacceptable,” she wrote as a reply.
“Now, are you trying to incite our business leaders to join you in spreading distrust & toxicity?” she asked, accusing Gandhi of repeatedly criticising the successes of Indian industry and entrepreneurs. Sitharaman said the Congress had, for decades, suppressed Indian entrepreneurship through the “Licence-Quota Raj” and “inflicted poverty” on crores of Indians.
In contrast, she said, the Narendra Modi government viewed Indian industry as a source of employment and economic growth.
“Our policies have been tailored to enable enterprise, support industry and encourage investment,” she said.
The finance minister said political parties, leaders, governments and institutions had an equal responsibility to support industry, strengthen farmers and secure the future of young people. She called for constructive engagement instead of what she described as baseless allegations driven by narrow political motives.
Invoking the judiciary, Sitharaman said the Constitution guaranteed justice to citizens and the courts were entrusted with upholding it. She also accused Gandhi, his party and previous Congress-led governments of undermining the judiciary.
“So Rahul ji, refrain from seeing ghosts everywhere,” she said.
The exchange comes amid a dispute over the leadership of Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group. Earlier this week, Tata Trusts chairman Noel Tata challenged a September 17 board resolution to reappoint N Chandrasekaran as Tata Sons chairman.
In his post on X, Gandhi alleged that the conglomerate was being “criminally destroyed” and questioned why business leaders had remained silent.
“How long will you stay silent? Until they own you?” he wrote.
“Indian business is not (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi and (Home Minister Amit) Shah's plaything. You lack courage. We don't. We will ensure justice for these crimes,” Gandhi added.