Slamming Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi for his "baseless statements" on the functioning of public sector banks under the Modi government, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said "PSBs were treated as ATMs for their cronies and shady businessmen," during the Congress-led UPA regime. Earlier in an X post on Wednesday, Gandhi accused the Centre of turning PSBs into "private financiers for only the rich and powerful corporations."

"Public Sector Banks were designed to give every Indian access to credit. The Modi government has turned these lifelines of the masses into private financiers for only the rich and powerful corporations," he alleged. Countering his remarks, Sitharaman said that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the PSBs have seen a "remarkable turnaround."