Addressing a press conference here at the party headquarters, Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, "Addressing a press conference in Chennai yesterday, the Finance Minister said that the automobile and components industry have been affected by BS6 and the mindsets of millennials who now prefer to have Ola and Uber rather than committing to buying an automobile."
Singhvi said, Sitharaman also said that a dip in gross domestic product (GDP) is part of growth. "It implies that the dip in GDP has become the new normal for the BJP," the Congress Rajya Sabha MP said.
Slamming Sitharaman, Singhvi said, "The gross overstatement made by the Finance Minister is a grave joke on the poor state of the economy. She must self-expunge her remarks and apologise from the nation."
Singhvi said that the app-based car booking system and the auto sector cannot be correlated. "App-based services like Ola and Uber prevail in metros and tier-II cities. Conversely, the sharp decline in the auto sector is spread across India including the rural regions as well," he said.
The Congress leader said that mobile app-based car booking system did not emerge at once. "They have been in the country for almost a decade now. Indeed, app-based car booking is not a new trend that is responsible for killing the new car market. The trend of the slowdown in the automobile industry did not come all of a sudden. Sales have fallen in 12 of the 13 months since July 2018," he said.
Hitting out at the Finance Minister, Singhvi said she should also remember the slowdown was not affecting auto companies alone, but its impact is felt across sectors, throughout the economy.
"Have Ola and Uber become this powerful that they can impact the economy at such a large scale?" he questioned.
Singhvi said that twitter hashtags '#BoycottMillenials' and '#SayItLikeNirmalaTai' are trending on Twitter, as citizens, especially Millennials are rebutting to the cruel joke made by the Finance Minister.
The Congress leader also demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sitharaman's apology from the people of the country over the issue.
( With inputs from IANS )