Communists in India are total cowards: Sitharaman hits out at John Brittas

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman called Indian communists “total cowards” during a Rajya Sabha debate, accusing CPI(M) MP John Brittas of spreading confusion over UPI charges. She defended the Taxation Amendment Bill and reiterated that consumers will not be charged for UPI payments

New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday termed communists in India as “total cowards” while lashing out at CPI (M) member John Brittas, accusing him of spreading confusion in the country over the charging of fees on UPI payments.

In her reply to the discussion on The Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, in the Rajya Sabha, Sitharaman took exception to Brittas walking out of the house without listening to her reply after he made allegations while moving a resolution to disapprove of the Income-Tax (Amendment) Ordinance, 2026, promulgated on June 5, 2026.

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Brittas alleged that the government has decided to charge fees on UPI payments due to pressure from the US, just like it was exerted on Brazil, and was going against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s assertion that “India’s digital payment ecosystem had been developed as a free public good”.

The CPI (M) member, who was allowed to move his resolution by Deputy Chairman Harivansh after a brief commotion, had walked out when his speech was cut short by the Chair for exceeding the time limit.

“John Brittas can please stay here, if he wants to hear one line. Typical communist style, blast everybody with ‘not facts’, twist the facts and do something and also demand my right ‘I have to speak’…and when actually the replies are to be given to them, point by point, they don’t have the courage. Cowards!” Sitharaman said.

“Communists in this country are total cowards; the member (John Brittas) has proven that. They can’t face facts, but they will go on filibustering, making noise,” she added. Referring to the assertion by the opposition member of his right to speak, Sitharaman asked, “They don’t have a right to listen? When the reply is given, I feel like saying it is my right to stand up and reply”.

Asserting that she listens to all the members and tries to reply to all the members in the discussion, the finance minister said, “Honourable John Brittas should stay here to hear the reply because he has been creating confusion all over, not just here but in the country because that is the tactic the communists adopt. Total untruth”.

Earlier, while moving his resolution, Brittas said the finance minister has “facilitated promulgation of the ordinance and subsequently brought this bill thinking that foreign capital would come to this country”. She is relying more on the promises of the foreign countries, he noted.

“There has been insistence on the part of US trade representatives that you need to charge UPI. The same pressure was exerted on Brazil. Now the policy of the government is being completely upended, and she has cleverly brought in the UPI component in this piece of legislation,” Brittas claimed.

He recollected a statement made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to “G20 finance ministers and central bank governors in February 2023, that India’s digital payment ecosystem had been developed as a free public good”. Thus, he said, “The current bill goes against the principle of India. The government policy from 2017 to 2025 was to keep digital payment charges away from merchants and consumers”.

Thus the current bill is “a violation of the solemn assurance of the honourable prime minister”, Brittas said, adding the government must concentrate on the basic issues of the nation.

Referring to the rupee depreciation, he stated that in 2013 Modi said: “rupee is in ICU, there is deep corruption in Delhi, and that’s why rupee is depreciating”. “What is the rupee value now?” he asked, adding that there is a flight of foreign capital.