‘Who is that poor?’: Sitharaman mocks Rahul Gandhi's 2013 remark

New Delhi, Feb 11: Finance minister Nirma Sitharaman on Friday tore into the Congress and Rahul Gandhi as she asked "What is that poor that you are talking about?".

Without naming Rahul Gandhi, Nirmala Sitharaman said,''Your (Congress) former president said, "Poverty does not mean scarcity of food, money, or material things. If one possesses self-confidence one can overcome it," - said the Congress leader. He also said, "It's a state of mind." I've not named the person but we know who it is.''

She had referred to his 2013 comment that poverty is a state of mind and asked whether this is what the Congress wanted in the Budget to be addressed.

"Please clarify, is this the poverty that you wanted me to address, the poverty of mind?" Sitharaman said.

Sitharaman made these remarks while replying on the Union Budget 2022 on Friday. Her statement came days after the Congress said that the Union Budget has nothing for the middle class, poor and farmers.