Following the address given by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Rajya Sabha over inflation, GST and other matters, Trinamool Congress’s MP Derek O’Brien claimed that she ‘evaded his questions’. However, FM Sitharaman refuted the claims and said she replied to all the queries even though Derek had walked out of the house and suggested he checks the recording of the session.
In the tweet, FM Sitharaman said, “You just walked out Derek O’Brien, the moment I said in West Bengal, pre-GST, paneer had a VAT on it. Even in your absence, I kept answering each of the points you wanted replies on, on cesses, LPG, GST, and particularly on the rupee. Please take some time out to watch Sansad TV.”
She had quoted the TMC MP where he had tagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to “complain” against Fm Sitharaman. He had said, “Mr Narendra Modi, your Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman responded to the Price Rise GST debate today in Rajya Sabha. WE HAD RAISED 6 SPECIFIC ISSUES. She evaded all. NO RESPONSE in #Parliament. Maybe I will get luckier on Twitter.”
After FM Sitharaman refuted his claims, without quoting her, Derek said, “So typical of Narendra Modi govt. His FM left RajyaSabha the moment I stood up to make my 14min speech for Trinamool Congress. They r now looking for a Twitter spat. She did not convincingly respond to any of the 6 ISSUES WE RAISED on Price Rise GST in Parliament. Happy tweeting.”
It is noteworthy that a major part of the current monsoon session at Rajya Sabha has seen continuous disruption by the leaders from opposition parties over price rise, GST etc. Around 20 members were suspended for disrupting the business in the house from different parties.
Owning to bad health, FM Sitharaman could not attend the daily business at the house for a few days, which was described as an “attempt to evade questions” despite the fact that the house was well-informed that FM would answer all the questions as soon as she feels better.
In a span of two days, FM attended both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha both to answer the questions tabled by the members regarding different matters, including GST, price rise, rupee vs dollar price and more.