"Said Poverty Is 'State Of Mind': Nirmala Sitharaman's Dig At Rahul Gandhi
NDTV
Nirmala Sitharaman also attacked the Congress, drawing parallels between 'rahu kal' - an inauspicious period of the day, per Hindu astrology - and the opposition party
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman - facing flak for a budget critics and opposition leaders say has ignored the poorer sections of the country - took a leaf out of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's book and fought back by targeting Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in her speech to the Rajya Sabha.
Ms Sitharaman dug out a 2013 comment - Mr Gandhi had called poverty a "state of mind", saying "... does not mean the scarcity of food, money or material things" and "... if one possesses self-confidence, then one can overcome poverty" - to criticise the Congress leader.
"Your former president said, 'Poverty does not mean scarcity of food, money, or material things. If one possesses self-confidence one can overcome it'. He also said, 'It's a state of mind'. I am not naming the person but we know who it is," Ms Sitharaman said.
"Please be clear... is this the 'poverty' you want me to address? The 'poverty of the mind'..." the Finance Minister continued amid shouts of disapproval from opposition MPs.
