KV Prasad
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, July 12
In her new role as Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman today mounted a spirited defence of her Budget proposals, bordering on being combative in the Rajya Sabha, a House where the Opposition attack was both sharper and critical of the portrayal in the documents.
For over 100 minutes, she chose to respond to all issues flagged by the House members, especially those raised by the Opposition members. She reserved special attention to the critical exposition of former Finance Minister P Chidambaram on her maiden effort and roadmap presented to balance the country’s economy in the face of challenges.
Towards the later part of her speech, the FM devoted much time responding to the issues underlined by her predecessor in the UPA government and offering a counter with figures in defence. At times, Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu appreciated the effort by the minister to respond in such detail.
Often backed by thumping of the Benches by her party colleagues, the minister soldiered on refusing to yield when Congress leader Anand Sharma sought to counter a statement she made while comparing to work done during the UPA. Of course, she gave way for the Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad who said it was the BJP, which opposed the GST since 2008.
Having stepped into the shoes of party veteran Arun Jaitley, the minister sought to underscore the work done by the previous Modi government in containing inflation and introducing reforms.
The pointed reference was in a direct response to Chidambaram’s charge that the government missed an opportunity to bring about structural reforms, especially after having received such a mandate in the recent elections.
In one of her attacks, the minister sought to turn the tables on the Opposition seeking to know that it should decide whether to claim credit for GST when one of its prominent leader called it “Gabbar Singh Tax”. She also recounted some of the measures undertaken by Chidambaram that, she said, resulted in an economy with lot of unpaid bills, which the Modi government was tasked to clear.
Clearly, she made most of the opportunity to bring to the fore her approach to the Budget, its contours to convert the vision of the government to make India a $ 5-trillion economy.
from The Tribune https://ift.tt/2XGrSjB
via Today’s News Headlines
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