3 min readUpdated: Oct 30, 2026 12:48 PM ISTRahul Gandhi's barb at Centre has drawn a sharp reply from Nirmala SitharamanDays after they sparred over developments surrounding the Tata Group, Rahul Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman traded barbs over IDBI Bank on Friday.In a scathing attack on the Centre over its decision to sell the majority stake in IDBI Bank, Gandhi said that while Congress governments set up banks, the Narendra Modi-led dispensation was selling them. “I stand with the employees of IDBI Bank,” he said on X, expressing solidarity with the bank’s employees protesting against the Centre’s move.Gandhi’s attack drew a sharp counter from the Union Finance Minister, who accused the Congress of using banks as personal entities and pressuring bank employees to extend loans at whim when it was in power.“In 1976, Indira Gandhi’s government removed SBI Chairman R.K. Talwar after he refused political pressure to relax lending conditions for a company linked to Sanjay Gandhi’s circle. Sanjay Gandhi pressured the Central Bank of India over loans to Maruti,” Sitharaman wrote on X.She alleged that IDBI Bank was in poor shape because it was “forced to lend to large business groups with close connections” to Congress. The NDA government revived the bank through professionalism, prudence and recapitalisation.“Congress-era banking had a phonebook for the powerful and a rulebook for the common citizens. The era of ‘connection and setting banking’ is over. Common people now have easy access to loans, and employees are not under pressure to extend loans over the phone calls,” she wrote.On October 14, the Centre approved the sale of a 60.72 per cent stake in IDBI Bank to Canada’s Fairfax Financial Holdings for about Rs 53,000 crore. This would be the largest foreign investment in an Indian bank.Story continues below this adEarlier, Gandhi and Sitharaman traded barbs over the boardroom battle within the Tata Group after the latter said the conglomerate was being“criminally destroyed” and questioned why “no business leader dares say a word”.Hitting back, Sitharaman said, “I suggest you refrain from politicising every issue. Also, casually labelling commercial and legal matters as criminal is unacceptable.”“You have repeatedly decried the successes of Indian industry & our entrepreneurs. Now, are you trying to incite our business leaders to join you in spreading distrust & toxicity? For decades, your party had smothered the spirit of the Indian entrepreneurs under the stifling ‘Licence-Quota Raj’ & inflicted poverty on crores of Indians,” she said.Gandhi responded by asking Sitharaman “which ‘legal and commercial matter’ required Tata Trusts and Tata Sons to be hosted at Amit Shah’s residence”. “When is crony number 1 going to appear in the game and which pieces of Tata is he going to get? Finally, all India’s businesses except 3-4 of your cronies, already hate all of you and don’t need any incitement,” he said.Story continues below this adTata Group faces a serious governance battle with a widening rift between Tata Trusts chairman Noel Tata and the board of Tata Sons, the conglomerate’s principal holding company. The dispute has raised fundamental questions about who exercises effective control over the business group.© The Indian Express Pvt LtdAdvertisementLoading Recommendations...AdvertisementAdvertisement