Rahul a repeat offender, his party gave port to Adani on platter: Nirmala Sitharaman

BENGALURU: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday came down heavily on former AICC president Rahul Gandhi calling him a “repeat offender” for making baseless allegations against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Speaking to reporters here, Sitharaman said, “Rahul Gandhi says he will not seek an apology like Veer Savarkar. He also gave a statement where he said RSS killed Mahatma Gandhi. Later, he had to tender an apology to the Supreme Court.

In the previous Lok Sabha polls, he had repeatedly targeted the government on the Rafale fighter jet deal. But, he could not prove this in the Supreme Court and he had to apologise. Such people talk about Savarkar” she said sarcastically.  

Challenging Rahul Gandhi to cancel the MoUs signed by the previous Congress governments in various states with the Adani group, Sitharaman stressed that the present Union Government has not helped the Adani Group.  

“Congress is making such continuous allegations and it is all baseless. In Chhattisgarh, Kerala and Rajasthan, the governments there have signed memoranda with the Adani Group... why should they sign?” she added.

She also alleged that it was the (then) Congress government in Kerala that gave the Vizhinjam port to Adani on a platter without calling for a tender. “An entire solar project in Rajasthan was given to the Adani Group. Why did Rahul Gandhi not try to cancel it?” she questioned.

She also hit out at the Congress for imposing the Emergency and said the party amended the Constitution illegally. “Such people say democracy is in danger now,” she quipped.