india

Updated: Aug 28, 2019 00:00 IST

Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday it is “outlandish” to question the credibility of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), launching a spirited counterattack on the Congress party that criticised the ruling side over the central bank’s decision to transfer ₹1.76 lakh crore to the government this financial year.

Speaking at an event in Pune, Sitharaman said the opposition party should have consulted its senior leaders before making allegations against RBI, a remark that came hours after Congress parliamentarian Rahul Gandhi said the prime minister and the finance minister are “clueless” about solving a “self-created economic disaster” and accused them of “stealing money” from the central bank.

“The Congress should have consulted its own finance ministers and senior leaders before making these allegations regarding RBI. They have become an expert in making such allegations of stealing, and I do not want to pay much heed to this,” she said.

Earlier in the day, the Congress stepped up its attack on the government as parks flew tick and fast in a heated political debate.

“PM & FM are clueless about how to solve their self created economic disaster. Stealing from RBI won’t work - it’s like stealing a Band-Aid from the dispensary & sticking it on a gunshot wound,” Gandhi tweeted.

His party accused the government of pushing the economy towards bankruptcy and an economic emergency, and termed the decision to transfer R1.76 lakh crore from RBI reserves to the government “catastrophic”.

Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma demanded a white paper from the government on the state of economy within a week.

“The government made wrong budget, it’s in loss. That’s why they snatched RBI’s money and pushed the country towards an economic emergency. It is a catastrophic decision. The government has done it out of sheer desperation. Its follies have brought the Indian economy to ruins,” the Congress leader said.

“India is in a deep financial crisis. The economy is in shambles, all indicators of development are low. India’s GDP [gross domestic product] is continuously falling. The government is thrusting India’s economy into financial bankruptcy,” Sharma said.

In a tweet, Congress’s chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala asked if the RBI move is “fiscal prudence or fiscal hara-kiri”. He said Modi 2.0 has converted the “R” in RBI from “Reserve” to “Ravaged”.

His party colleague Jairam Ramesh made a reference to former RBI governor Urjit Patel and deputy governor Viral Acharya to drive home his point. “Urjit Patel and Viral Acharya held the fort. They were forced to leave. The fort was breached,” he tweeted.

In the counterattack by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), its spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao targeted Rahul Gandhi.

“Rahul Gandhi is obsessed with stealing. That is where his expertise lies and this was visible during the tenure of the Congress-led UPA government. Therefore, many Congress leaders are mired in corruption scandals and the Congress has become synonymous with corruption,” he said.

Asserting that funds from the RBI will serve a national purpose, Rao said Gandhi’s comments are both “immature” as well as showed his “distorted” understanding of economy.