Nirmala Sitharaman tells Rahul Gandhi to stop 'seeing ghosts' over Tata row

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday accused Rahul Gandhi of politicising the Tata Group's boardroom dispute after he claimed the conglomerate was being "criminally destroyed". The exchange began with Gandhi questioning the silence of business leaders and accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah of interfering in Indian business. Sitharaman publicly rejected his allegations and urged restraint.

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Rahul Gandhi alleges Tata Group is being destroyed

Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi accused the country's political leadership of putting pressure on corporate India and asked why prominent business figures were not speaking out about the Tata Group dispute.

He described the group as being "criminally destroyed" and said business leaders lacked the courage to object. He also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah of treating Indian business as their "plaything" and promised to seek justice over what he called crimes against the company.

His remarks came as a disagreement within the Tata Group over the future leadership of Tata Sons, its holding company, continued to attract public attention. 

Nirmala Sitharaman responds with 'ghosts everywhere' remark

Responding on X, Sitharaman said Rahul Gandhi should stop turning commercial disputes into political accusations. She argued that a disagreement involving company procedures and legal questions should not automatically be described as a criminal matter.

The Finance Minister accused the Congress leader of spreading "distrust and toxicity" and questioned whether he was trying to draw business leaders into his criticism of the government. She also accused him of repeatedly dismissing the achievements of Indian entrepreneurs.

Sitharaman then attacked the Congress's economic record, saying its earlier policies had restricted private enterprise under the "Licence-Quota Raj". By contrast, she said the Modi government regarded businesses as employers and contributors to economic growth, and had sought to encourage investment.

She rejected Gandhi's suggestion that justice was beyond reach, pointing to the Constitution and the courts. She also accused Congress governments of disrespecting the judiciary before ending her message with the advice to "refrain from seeing ghosts everywhere".

Rahul Gandhi questions alleged meeting at Amit Shah's residence

The exchange did not end there. In a later post, Gandhi asked why representatives of Tata Trusts and Tata Sons had reportedly met at Amit Shah's residence if the dispute was purely a legal and commercial matter.

He also referred to an unnamed "crony number 1" and questioned whether that person would benefit from the Tata dispute. Gandhi offered no supporting evidence for that suggestion. He further claimed that most Indian businesses were already unhappy with the government and did not need encouragement from him to speak out.

What is the dispute over N Chandrasekaran's reappointment?

The dispute centres on a September 17 decision by the Tata Sons board to reappoint N Chandrasekaran as executive chairman for another five-year term after his current tenure ends in February 2027.

While Tata Trusts chairman Noel Tata opposed the move, fellow Trusts nominee Venu Srinivasan supported it along with other directors. The decision was eventually secured through a casting vote, a procedure Tata Trusts has challenged.

On October 26, Noel Tata wrote to Tata Sons' company secretary, disputing the validity of the resolution. He argued that the reappointment was not properly included in the meeting agenda and questioned whether it met the company’s voting requirements. He also sought an unedited recording of the proceedings.

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