The coronavirus pandemic does not give the government any authorisation to destroy parliamentary democracy and embark on a "grand clearance sale" of national assets and resources, Congress leader Anand Sharma said on Saturday.
His reaction came after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled a series of long-pending reforms for the defence sector which included making provisions for separate budgetary outlay to procure Indian-made military hardware, increasing the FDI limit and generating a year-wise negative list of weapons which can't be imported.
The Congress leader said such decisions require a broader national consensus, and sought a national debate on it.
"Corona pandemic and lock-down does not give government any authorisation to destroy Parliamentary democracy and embark on a grand clearance sale of national assets and resources," the former Union minister said on Twitter.
"My question to PM Narendra Modi is: whether opening up of defence, Airspace and Aerospace to foreign companies will make a Aatm Nirbhar Bharat? Let there be a national debate," he said.
Sharma said taking sensitive and strategic policy decisions that have a direct bearing on national security and self reliance without a broader national consensus raises fundamental questions.
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"Does the government have a mandate to take arbitrary decisions that will have far reaching implications," he asked.
Sitharaman, a former defence minister, also announced corporatisation of the Ordnance Factory Board, a nearly 200-year-old organisation that operates 41 ammunition production facilities across the country. The decision is aimed at enhancing efficiency in functioning of the organisation.