NEW DELHI: The Congress on Thursday latched on to a slip of tongue by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman when she uttered "horse-trading" to take a swipe at the BJP, saying buying MLAs has become so common she "blurted out the truth".
In a short video clip widely circulated on social media and shared by Congress's media department head Pawan Khera, Nirmala Sitharaman is heard saying: "The second GOM, related to the betting, gambling, casinos, horse-trading (corrects herself) horse-racing."
The clip was from Wednesday where at a press conference the finance minister said the GST council had deferred a decision on 28 per cent tax on casinos, online gaming, horse-racing and lottery pending consultation.
Taking a dig over Sitharaman's slip of tongue, Khera tweeted, "I knew @nsitharaman ji had the ability to think out of the (ballot) box. Yes Nirmala ji, there should be GST on horse-trading."
In a statement issued on the Maharashtra political developments, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said since 2014, the prime focus of the BJP has been to bring down elected governments in states rather than serve the public.
"The offices of the Governors and Speakers, and agencies like ED and CBI are openly misused. Buying MLAs has become so commonplace that the Finance Minister blurted out the truth today, when she suggested imposition of GST on horse-trading," he said referring to Sitharaman's remarks.
Congress on Thursday also dubbed the new Maharashtra government led by the BJP and Shiv Sena dissidents as "ED Sarkar", a reference to the first names of chief minister Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis.
"Introducing the new ED Sarkar. #Maharastra," tweeted Congress' in-charge of media and publicity Pawan Khera.
The Congress has accused the BJP government of using unethical means including the misuse of probe agencies like Enforcement Directorate and CBI in toppling the Maha Vikash Aghadi government in the state.
The Congress was a part of the previous MVA government in Maharashtra along with NCP and the Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray.