Nirmala Sitharaman's millennials remark reflects inefficiency, immaturity of BJP in governance: Cong
#BoycottMillenials gets trending on Twitter
New Delhi, Sep 11: The Congress on Wednesday hit out at Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman over her millennials remark, saying it reflected the "inefficiency, immaturity, and inexperience" of the BJP in governance and demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi apologise for it.
Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said Sitharaman's statement is a grave joke on the poor state of the economy.
The minister had said in Chennai on Tuesday that the slowdown in the automobile sector was due to many factors like the change in mindset of millennials, who now prefer taxi aggregators like Ola and Uber, instead of committing for monthly installments to own a car.
Taking a swipe at her analogy, Singhvi also posed a set of ten questions to Sitharaman.
"This remarkable, unbelievable statement by the finance minister reflects the inefficiency, the immaturity and the inexperience, the three I's, as Shri Modi would say of the BJP in governance. The gross overstatement by the FM is a grave joke on the economy, on the country. Why? Because the dip in the GDP is the real new normal for this government," he told reporters.
"I am sure that she will not do, what is deserved to be done. So may I request Modi Ji to do it for us expunge her remarks and seek an apology from her to the nation," he said.
Singhvi asked reporters why the prime minister was not taking responsibility and steps to tackle the slowdown. "Why is he silent and hiding," he questioned.
He asked why the finance minister was more interested in cracking jokes and finding excuses instead of putting in efforts to bring the economy on track.
The Congress leader asked how would India be able to become a USD 5 trillion economy with the slowdown and wondered why steps were not taken in the recent General Budget to overcome the problem in the automobile sector.
Taking on the finance minister, the Congress leader said the mobile app-based car booking system and the auto sector can not be correlated as the sharp decline in the auto sector is spread across India, including the rural regions.
He said the car booking system had not emerged at once and had been in the country for almost a decade now.
"It is not a new trend that is responsible for killing the new car market," he said, adding that the slowdown in automobile industry did not happen all of a sudden as sales had been falling for months since July 2018.
"The finance minister should also remember that the slowdown isn't 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 asked.
Singhvi said the hashtags like "#BoycottMillennials" and "#SayItLikeNirmalaTai" are already trending on Twitter, as citizens, especially millennials are rebutting the "cruel joke" made by the Sitharaman.
#BoycottMillennials FM things?
— Pradeep Goud Macharla (@Macharlazz) September 11, 2019
Automobiles?⬇️: Millennials prefer Ola and Uber
Water Crisis?: Millennials drinking more water
Real estate ?⬇️: Millennials using Oyo and Airbnb
Air traffic✈⬇️: Millennials video call than travel
Rupee fall ₹ ⬇️: Millennials use Bitcoin
Aviation industry is facing crisis because millennials prefer flying in PUBG plane #BoycottMillennials pic.twitter.com/nnDPwh75jq
— #PervySage_Jiraiyya ஏழைகள் அவெஞ்சர் (@GreySasquatch) September 10, 2019
Funniest trend in twitter today?
— Sunder (@SunderjiJB) September 11, 2019
BHEL is at 15 year low as Millennials prefer panipuri
The property market is down because millennials have started 'live-in' relationships
Fall in agricultural sector because millennials prefer pizza instead of daal roti,#BoycottMillennials
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Charred body of teen found after fire destroys over 100 shanties in Delhi's Rithala
New Delhi (PTI): A massive fire swept through a cluster of shanties in Delhi's Rithala area early on Thursday, killing a 17-year-old girl and destroying more than 100 huts that left dozens of migrant families homeless.
Firefighters pulled out the charred body of the girl who was initially reported missing after the fire.
The blaze that was reported to authorities at 4.15 am spread rapidly through the densely packed shanties, triggering panic among residents who rushed out of their huts to escape the flames.
Residents said the shanty cluster was home to migrant labourers from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal and other states who worked as daily wage workers in nearby factories, construction sites and small establishments.
The Delhi Fire Services (DFS) launched a large-scale firefighting operation and deployed more than 18 fire tenders to control the blaze.
After the fire was brought under control, firefighters recovered the charred body of a teenage girl from the debris.
"Teams reached the location soon after the call was received and began firefighting operations. The fire had already engulfed several shanties in the cluster," a fire official said.
Officials said the blaze spread quickly because the huts were built very close to each other and many contained highly inflammable materials such as plastic sheets, wooden planks and cloth.
Firefighters and local police personnel carried out rescue and cooling operations and managed to bring the fire under control by around 6.30 am.
"The fire had spread to more than 100 huts and a adjacent godown of paper rolls and cardboard and the doors and windows of some residential flats also caught fire. A 17-year-old girl charred body was also recovered. Her body was sent to BSA Hospital by PCR," the officer said.
Police said the girl has been identified and further legal procedures are underway.
Many families said they lost everything in the fire as they had to flee with no belongings during the fire.
"We ran out to save our lives when the fire started. Within minutes everything was burning. Our hut, clothes, money and documents -- everything has turned to ashes," said Ramesh Kumar, a labourer from Bihar who has been living in the area.
Another person from West Bengal, said the flames spread so quickly that people barely had time to wake their children and escape.
"We woke up to screams and saw fire everywhere. We somehow managed to take the children outside. We could not save anything from the hut. All our belongings are gone," she said.
Some residents were seen searching through the burnt remains of their huts in the hope of finding salvageable items. "We worked for years to build this small hut and collect household items. In just a few minutes, everything we had earned was destroyed," said a migrant worker from Uttar Pradesh.
Police said the exact cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained and an investigation is underway.
