Sitharaman’s fiery response to Rahul for saying nothing for poor in Budget

Replying to the discussion in the Rajya Sabha, Sitharaman said her Budget brings stability to the economy and has measures to create jobs.

“Please be clear, is this the poverty that you wanted me to address, the poverty of mind?” she said.

Following this, Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi protested that she was mocking the poor. However, Sitharaman shot back saying, “I am not mocking the poor people. The person who had mocked the poor people, you are in alliance with your party.”

She said what is the poor that the opposition was talking about. “Your former (Congress) president said the poverty does not mean scarcity of food, money or material things. If one possesses self-confidence, then one can overcome it. He said it’s a state of mind. I’ve not named the person but we know who it is.”

She said the comment was reported in the media and she was just quoting the Congress leader.

Sitharaman said she did not take any name but everybody started defending. “If you want a rough translation of the Tamil proverb, it is — during rainy seasons no one knows where the frog is, but you know where it is when it makes the croak-croak.”

Sitharaman also responded to senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal who said ‘India is not in Amrit Kaal but in Rahu Kaal since 2014’. 

She said: ‘Rahu Kaal’ was then, when an ordinance brought by the Prime Minister of their own party was torn in front of the media, she said referring to the 2013 incident of Rahul Gandhi. That was the Rahu Kaal. Rahu Kaal is what produces G-23″.

G-23 is a grouping of 23 Congress leaders including Azad and Sibal who have been demanding leadership restructuring in the party. “Senior leaders of the party are leaving the party. That is Rahu Kaal,” she said.