Congress, TMC Hit Out At Nirmala Sitharaman's Flip-Flop On Interest Rate Order, Demand Resignation

The retraction of the interest rate order garnered sharp reactions from political parties, and believed it has been withdrawn in view of the ongoing assembly elections and the BJP fearing backlash from the voters.

New Delhi: The government order to revise the interest rates on small saving schemes on Thursday attracted criticism from various quarters including the opposition parties and common man. The latest decision means that the sharp cuts announced in small saving schemes on Wednesday will not be implented, at least for now.

Congress leader Randeep Surjewala was quick to take on the ruling BJP-led government on the retraction of its order saying if the FM is ‘running a circus or a govt’. Taking a dig at the FM, he said, one can imagine the functioning of economy when such duly approved order affecting crores of people can be issued by an ‘oversight’. Also Read: Kumbh Mela Begins 2021: Check New SOPs For Pilgrims As People Test At An Ashram

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also took to Twitter saying there was already a loot on petrol and diesel and as the election gets over, the middle class savings will be looted again in the wake of interest cut.

Meanwhile, Congress scion Priyanka Gandhi also asked Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman if the Centre's overnight decision on small savings scheme interest rates was a case of "oversight" as claimed or one of election-driven "hindsight". She tweeted soon after after the FM posted on the microblogging site on Thursday morning retracting the steep cuts in rates announced on Wednesday, ie the last day of Financial Year 2020-2021.

Even Congress leader P Chidambaram was not behind at cricticisng the move on interest rate cut. Lashing out at the FM, he said Sitaraman has no moral right to continue as FM. On the other hand, he said announcement of interest rates on savings instruments for the next quarter is a regular exercise. “There is nothing “inadvertent” about its release on 31st March. But the BJP government had decided to launch another assault on the middle class by slashing the interest rates and profiting itself. When caught, the FM is putting forward the lame excuse of “inadvertent error,” he added.

"At a time when inflation is at about 6 per cent and expected to rise, the BJP government is offering interest rates below 6 percent hitting the savers and the middle class below the belt," the former finance and home minister pointed out.

The Trinamool Congress, putting up a fierce battle against the BJP in West Bengal, also mocked the ruling party at the Centre. Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra also reacted to this order saying is it’s the biggest April Fool’s joke. The move garnered sharp reactions from political parties and believed that the order has been retracted in view of the ongoing assembly elections and the BJP fearing backclash from voters. Moitra also tried to ask the FM about the chronology of the order issued hinting at introducing the cut after the assembly election gets over in key states.

The order issued on Wednesday evening said interest rates on small savings schemes, including NSC and PPF, will be reduced by up to 1.1 percent for the first quarter of 2021-22 inline with falling fixed deposit rates of banks.

Announcing a withdrawal of the decision, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the order was issued by an “oversight”.