New Delhi, 28 October (H.S.): Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday criticised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his remarks on the Tata controversy, accusing him of attempting to spread distrust and negativity by drawing members of the business community into political disputes.

In a post on the social media platform X, Sitharaman launched a sharp counterattack after Rahul Gandhi accused the government of “criminally destroying” the Tata Group. The Finance Minister urged the Congress leader to refrain from politicising every issue, asserting that describing matters that are purely commercial and legal in nature as “criminal” was entirely unacceptable.

Rahul Gandhi had earlier claimed in a social media post that the Tata Group was being “criminally destroyed” and alleged that business leaders in the country lacked the courage to speak out against it. He also asserted that India’s business community was not a puppet in the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

The political controversy has emerged amid internal differences over the leadership of Tata Sons. Recently, Tata Trusts Chairman Noel Tata challenged the proposal by the Tata Sons board to reappoint N. Chandrasekaran as executive chairman.

Rahul Gandhi had linked the ongoing corporate and legal developments to the Central Government in his remarks, prompting Sitharaman to issue a strong response on behalf of the government.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar