 "'Fighting against each other or together?': Nirmala Sitharaman takes swipe at I.N.D.I.A alliance")
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday questioned the formation of I.N.D.I.A alliance saying that it was tough to understand if they were fighting against each other or fighting unitedly. Speaking during no-confidence motion debate in Lok Sabha, the Sitharaman said, “This is an extraordinary unity where it is difficult to understand whether the alliance partners are fighting amongst each other or fighting unitedly.”
Sitharaman said that one of the examples of their fight was when Karnataka’s health minister gave thumbs down to the mohalla clinics in Delhi. “Karnataka’s health minister came to Delhi to see the mohalla clinics here. He came and said that there is nothing special in them and we are disappointed. This is one of the examples of their fight,” she said.
She said that people moved no confidence against UPA in 2014 and 2019 and defeated them and the situation is going to be no different in 2024. “UPA wasted an entire decade because there was a lot of corruption and cronyism. Today, every crisis and adversity has been changed into a reform and an opportunity,” said Sitharaman. She said that the transformation comes through actual delivery, and not through spoken words. “You show dreams to people. We make their dreams a reality. We believe in empowering all and appeasement of none,” said the Finance Minister.
“Words like ‘banega, milega’ are not in use anymore. What are the people using these days? ‘Ban gaye, mil gaye, aa gaye’. During UPA, people said ‘Bijli aayegi’, now people say ‘Bijli aa gayi’. They said ‘gas connection milega’, now ‘gas connection mil gaya’…They said airport ‘banega’, now airport ‘ban gaya’…,” she added. With inputs from agencies