The Congress’ idea of wealth redistribution was nothing but robbing Peter to pay Paul – something that was not only an outdated approach but also an irresponsible one, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told FE in an exclusive interview. “These are not the days of Robin Hood,” she said.
“The methodology Congress has been adopting is very insidious. They have been constantly talking about carrying out X-rays of wealth and caste census. They say their poll manifesto doesn’t talk about wealth redistribution, but their leaders are saying the same thing again and again,” Sitharaman said.
The FM said while the BJP would continue on its path of improving economic growth along with targeted distribution of amenities to needy people, the Congress wanted to take away someone else’s money and give it to many others. “Instead of making the poor wealthier, their solution is to make the wealthier poor. It’s just unjust. Wealth creators also provide jobs and opportunities to people and resources to the government. Sensationalising it only because you are desperate to win and come to power, shows you care nothing for people,” she said.
“After weaving a narrative of hatred towards businessmen, Congress suddenly adopted silence. The PM’s speech (on Adani-Ambani link) was in that spirit.”
Asked whether the prime minister’s recent statement on truckloads of money being sent by Adani and Ambani to the Congress party painted businessmen in general as being dishonest, Sitharaman said the PM was only calling out Rahul Gandhi and the party on their hypocrisy towards India’s wealth creators. “For the past few years, they have been weaving this disastrous narrative of crony capitalism and showcased businessmen as people who loot. Why have they suddenly lost hate for Adani and Ambani? Have something been coming to the Congress from them?’ she said.
Pointing out that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) treated businessmen and entrepreneurs with respect and gave them opportunities to perform so that they could create more jobs and contribute to the country’s wealth creation, Sitharaman said entrepreneurship had given India its strength. “After developing a narrative of hatred towards businessmen, Congress perhaps couldn’t find a graceful way to exit, and suddenly adopted silence in the hope that people will no longer notice their hatred. The PM’s speech was in that spirit,” she said.
“Regulation — whether it’s for equity markets or banks or corporate entities – can’t be fixated. A soft touch always results in better response from the regulated.”
Sitharaman said she hoped that the Reserve Bank of India will initiate a “vibrant discussion” on the draft guidelines on project finance, which proposed steep provisioning, as it was important for all voices to be heard before taking a final decision on such issues.
Asked whether she agreed with the view that there was regulatory over-reach in some areas, she said the regulators had been doing a “very professional” job, but it was important to continue to keep “our ears close to the ground” so that some of the regulations could be finetuned. “Regulation — whether it’s for equity markets or banks or corporate entities – can’t be fixated. A soft touch always results in better response from the regulated,” she said.
On the worries in the stock market over the margin of victory for the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections, she said she simply didn’t understand where “this narrative of the results being not favourable to us” was coming from. The opposition, she said, was building this false narrative to undermine expectations about the BJP’s performance in the first two phases of the elections. “Market is reacting to this narrative being built. The actual results may be very different as we are sure to come up with a good majority,” she said, referring to Home Minister Amit Shah’s recent assertion that the target of 370-plus will be met by 12.30 pm on June 4.