FM Sitharaman criticise Rahul Gandhi over Lok Sabha speech, says "he had stupid self-confidence"

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday attacked Congress MP Rahul Gandhi over his "stupid self-confidence." Her remarks came just hours after the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha claimed that India's refusal to manufacture led to China "sitting inside the country".

Speaking during the Motion of Thanks on the President’s speech, Rahul Gandhi on Monday claimed that China has established itself as the dominant global manufacturing leader, leaving India nearly a decade behind in key industrial sectors.

Responding to his remarks in an interview, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman hit back at the Congress leader, accusing his party of failing to strengthen India's manufacturing sector during the 10-year UPA rule.

Questioning the Congress over a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) it signed with China during UPA rule, Sitharaman said, "During your rule, you went to China and signed an agreement. Why don't you disclose what is in that agreement? Why don't you talk about how much land China took from Kashmir and



Ladakh during Congress rule?"

Her retort was in response to to Rahul's remark that India was becoming consumption-driven, which would ultimately benefit a "few businessmen".

"Look at that stupid self-confidence with which he stands up," Sitharaman said.

Rahul Gandhi had argued that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is meaningless without data and that China controls the critical production data required for advanced manufacturing.

"If and when we fight a war with China, we will be fighting with Chinese electric motors, Chinese batteries and Chinese optics and we will be buying Chinese motors, Chinese optics and Chinese batteries," Rahul said.

In response, Sitharaman defended India's manufacturing capabilities, highlighting the developments made in the smartphone manufacturing sector.

"What did you do in the ten years of your rule? Did you make even one unit? We spent four to five years cleaning up the mess left by Congress after a decade of their rule," she said.