Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Friday expressed solidarity with IDBI Bank employees and fiercely attacked the Centre’s decision to transfer management control and sell a 60.72% majority stake in the lender to Canadian firm Fairfax Financial Holdings for Rs 52,878.08 crore.
In a letter posted on X, Gandhi questioned why a profitable public institution was being handed over to private ownership. Highlighting his interaction with bank employees at Parliament last year, he stated that the government failed to justify selling a lender revived after years of effort.
कांग्रेस के समय में IDBI बना – देश का उद्योग खड़ा करने के लिए।
मोदी के समय में पहले बोली देखी गई, फिर दाम तय हुआ।
कांग्रेस के time पे बैंक बनते थे। मोदी के time में बिकते हैं।
मैं IDBI बैंक के कर्मचारियों के साथ खड़ा हूँ। https://t.co/uLT7mWTYyr
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) October 30, 2026
He further warned that privatisation would eliminate reservation protections for Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), and Other Backwards Classes (OBC) employees while diluting service conditions. “Public banks are not assets to be sold off; they are tools to build the nation,” Gandhi added.
Rejecting the allegations, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman maintained that all due processes were strictly followed in the bank’s strategic restructuring.
She accused the Congress of historically misusing financial institutions for personal gains and pressuring banks to issue unviable loans.
The Union Cabinet had approved the sale on Oct 14, marking India’s largest strategic disinvestment deal. Governed by official metrics, IDBI Bank’s gross NPA fell drastically from 31.78% in Sept 2018 to 2.32% in March 2026, backing its financial recovery.
