Congress sold resources, made kickbacks: Nirmala Sitharaman hits back at Rahul

New Delhi, Aug 25: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman slammed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today for his criticism over it.

"Does he (Rahul Gandhi) understand what monetisation is? It was Congress that sold the country's resources and made kickbacks in it," Sitharaman was quoted as saying by news agency Press Trust of India.

Rahulon Tuesday questioned the move of the government to monetise its assets across key sectors, saying all assets created in the last 70 years are being sold.

The Trinamool Congress has called it a dangerous bid. "NMP is an unprecedented anti-people move which did not figure in the BJP election manifesto for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls," said senior party leader Sukhendu Shekhar Roy.

Sitharaman unveiled an ambitious Rs 6 lakh crore National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) that included unlocking value by involving private companies across infrastructure sectors -- from passenger trains and railway stations to airports, roads and stadiums.

As many as 25 Airports Authority of India (AAI) airports, including ones at Chennai, Bhopal, Varanasi and Vadodara, as well as 40 railway stations, 15 railway stadiums and an unidentified number of railway colonies have been identified for getting private investments.