FM poses 10 questions to counter Cong attack
NEW DELHI: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday that Rahul Gandhi was becoming a “doomsday man” for India by creating fake narratives on various issues, as she hit back at the Congress leader’s “hum do, humare do” jibe that questioned the government’s intent behind three farm laws, and posed a 10-point questionnaire-cum-rebuttal on farmer’s welfare.
After responding to various issues raised by members of Parliament in the Lok Sabha during a debate on the Union Budget over two days, Sitharaman asked Gandhi why the Congress took a U-turn on farm reforms after it proposed a similar move during the 2019 general elections.
“Shri Rahul Gandhi, when he stood up [in Lok Sabha on Thursday]... when the foundation was being laid [by him] for the [reply to the] Budget speech, which never happened... I want to ask, and I also share my expectations... Why the Congress party had taken a U-turn in its position [on farm reforms]... [mentioned in its] 2019 election manifesto…,” she said. “We need to recognise these two tendencies of the Congress party. One is creating fake narratives and second, lack of belief in a democratically elected Parliamentary system,” she said.
Gandhi said on Thursday that the three new farm laws would allow corporates to buy unlimited quantity of food grains for profiteering, kill the ‘mandi’ system, remove the Essential Commodity Act (ECA) leading to hoarding, and deny judicial remedies to farmers against corporate buyers of their farm produce. “These laws will destroy India’s food security system and will hurt rural economy,” he said.
The “hum do, humare do” expression was used by Gandhi to say that only four people were ruling this country, including two business houses.
Speaking in the House, Sitharaman said she was posing 10
questions to the Congress, which the party would have to answer in the due course. She sought an answer from the opposition party over its “U-turn” on the farm legislation, which she said it supported earlier. Her second question was related to the Congress’s electoral promise of farm loan waivers in states such as Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. “Karza maafi Rajasthan men nahi hua, Madhya Pradesh men nahi hua... Chhattisgarh men bhi wo karza maafi nahi hua,” she said.
Sitharaman’s third point was an expectation from Gandhi that he would “order” the Punjab chief minister not to implement the “kala kaanun” [the three farm laws]. “I thought, he would reveal this in the House,” she said.
“When Rahul Gandhiji was talking about the farm laws at that time I expected that he would say that farmers have problems related to ‘parali’ [stubble] and the Congress government in Punjab will give some relief to them. But, that didn’t happen,” she said.
She asked Gandhi for at least one clause of the three farm laws that would demonstrate that farmers’ interest would be hurt. “[Congress] participated in the voting [of the Bills in the Parliament], gave [its] support, and then changed its mind...,” she added.
Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reply to the motion of thanks on the President’s speech that enumerated several measures for small farmers, Sitharaman said: “I thought he would stand and say, ‘Pradhan Mantriji’ you have spoken several good things about small farmers, I will ask my friends to return lands to the farmer... because we took land cheap from them... We are in politics, therefore, my family and I have to take a stand on this matter and return the land.”
She also referred to PM Modi’s reply to the President’s address, wherein he quoted former PM Manmohan Singh that he also supported such farm reforms. “I thought, he [Gandhi] would say [something about]... forgetting the statement of Dr Manmohan Singh .... I thought he would say we will not dishonour Dr Manmohan Singh,” she said.
“While debating on Budget... several members raised the question whether any APMC [Agricultural Produce Market Committee] has been closed after the three [farm] laws were enacted? They are not closed anywhere... Prove even if one APMC mandi is shut?” “Why does he choose to insult constitutional authorities?” she said.
Sitharaman also alleged that the Congress was creating “continuously fake narratives”. She alleged that Gandhi never believed in the Indian government but preferred to rely on outsiders, did “politics with a fringe group” and indulged in “bhayankar [frightful] abuse... total unacceptable terminology for constitutionally elected heads.” She said Gandhi indulged in “destructive” politics. “I’m very scared... probably he is becoming a ‘doomsday man’ for India,” she said.
Congress MP TN Prathapan later moved a notice for privilege motion against Sitharaman on her “doomsday man” remark.
Reacting to Sitharaman’s comment on “hum do, humare do” slogan, Adhir Chowdhury, Leader of Congress Party in Lok Sabha, said: “Immediately we stood up there and objected to the comments of the Finance Minister and even exhorted her that being a Finance Minister of India, she should not indulge in a such kind of unparliamentary activities.”
MUMBAI: A crew member sustained burn injuries while three others were reported to be trapped in an engine room after fire broke out in an offshore supply vessel on Saturday.
The ship, Greatship Rohini, was 92 nautical miles off the Mumbai coast when the incident occurred. The injured crew member was rescued and brought ashore for medical treatment, said Indian coast guard officials.
On getting the information, the ICG diverted an offshore patrol vessel Samarth to the location and an ICG Dornier aircraft flew to the spot for an aerial assessment of the emergency.
ICG ship Samarth with its advanced external fire-fighting system, offshore vessel Priya 27, and several other boats are involved in rescue and boundary cooling operation, an officer said. “The fire has been doused but the engine room is full of smoke and boundary cooling operation is going on, said ICG officials.
The communication with vessel Greatship Rohini is broken. 18 crew members were on board at the time of the incident, the officer added.