New Delhi, Dec 12 (PTI) Congress on Monday expressed "strong objections" to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's comments in Parliament that some people are "jealous" of the country's economic growth, saying India is a democratic nation and every citizen has a right to question the government.

Participating in the discussion on the supplementary demands for grants in the Lok Sabha, Congress member K Suresh said "nobody is jealous about India's progress".

Also Read | Lakhimpur Kheri Violence Case: How Long Can We Keep Ashish Mishra in Custody? Supreme Court Asks Uttar Pradesh Government.

"Every single Indian has the right to question...It is called democracy. People rights are supreme...We are still living in a democracy," he said.

Earlier in the day, replying to a question, Sitharaman said it is regrettable that when Indian economy is doing well and is growing at a faster rate, some people are "jealous" over it.

Also Read | Consumer Price Index Numbers on Base 2012=100 for Rural, Urban and Combined for the Month of November 2022.

Suresh said the finance minister is stating that Indian economy is the fastest growing and if this is the case, then "we are not jealous, but we are worried".

He alleged that the government is not able to help the working class who was hit hard by the Covid pandemic.

Small and medium businesses are suffering due to demonetisation, implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) and Covid pandemic, he said, adding the government has not done anything to address their issues.

Citing different data and growth projections, he said: "We are not jealous, we are worried." PTI RR CS

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)