'Blame everyone but BJP's handling of economy': Congress slams Nirmala Sitharaman over remarks on auto industry slowdown

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi lashed out at Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for attributing the slowdown in the automobile sector to the “mindset of millennials”.

On Twitter, Singhvi responded to Sitharaman’s comment and said, “Yes… that’s great. Blame the voters… blame everyone but BJP’s handling of the economy.”

Yes..that's great. Blame the voters..blame everyone but BJP's handling of the economy Mrs Finance Minister.https://t.co/tNZbKs0B3m

— Abhishek Singhvi (@DrAMSinghvi) September 10, 2019

Singhvi also took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promise of making India a $5 trillion economy. “Modi’s Twitter followers have crossed 50 million. Economy will cross 5 trillion (dollars), but how? Youths are not getting jobs, will you hold Opposition responsible for this too? Uber, Ola have ruined everything," he said.   

मोदी जी के @Twitter Followers हो गए 50 मिलियन पार,
Economy करेंगे 5 ट्रिलियन पार
पर कैसे ?
युवाओं को नहीं मिल रहा रोजगार
क्या इसके लिए भी आप ठहराएंगे विपक्ष को जिम्मेदार ? #Uber #Ola ने सब कर दिया बंटाधार | #FinanceMinister

— Abhishek Singhvi (@DrAMSinghvi) September 11, 2019

He attributed to ‘Modinomics’ the claim that good work was only done under the Modi government, and said ‘Nirmalanomics’ was about blaming others for the bad. “Then, why have people elected you,” he asked.

Congress also took a dig at Sitharaman for her remarks on its official Twitter handle.

So the decline in bus & truck sales is also because millennials have stopped buying them as much as they used to. Isn't that right FM Smt. @nsitharaman? https://t.co/Ri0Zp89DfW

— Congress (@INCIndia) September 10, 2019

Referring to a report, Congress criticised the BJP for its claim that crores of stocks in investor wealth had been wiped off within the 100 days of its second term. “Despite their promise of protecting wealth creators, the government’s disastrous policies have wiped away Rs 12.5 lakh crore of investor wealth in the last 100 days. Unlike the finance minister’s excuses, these are the real reasons for it: Demonetisation, GST, tax terrorism," the party tweeted.

Sitharaman had on Tuesday claimed that the slowdown in auto sales was due to various factors such as the change in the mindset of millennials who prefer taking an Ola or Uber than buying their own vehicle.

“Automobiles in particular and the components together have been affected by several things, inclusive of BS-VI movement, inclusive of that registration fee-related matter. Some studies do tell us the mindset of the millennials who are now preferring not to commit an EMI towards buying automobiles but would consider taking (cab aggregators) Ola, Uber and everything else or take the Metro”, the finance minister had said.

Following her comments, the finance minister was heavily trolled on social media with sarcastic hashtags like #BoycottMillennials and #SayItLikeNirmalaTai trending on Twitter.

With inputs from PTI