Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told the Rajya Sabha that higher personal income-tax collections do not automatically mean the middle class is being “suppressed” or “crushed,” rebutting AAP MP Raghav Chadha’s claim that the middle class is being “sandwiched.” She said there is “no evidence” of middle-class suppression, but “enough and more evidence” of historic middle-class expansion and formalisation, arguing that more people now have taxable incomes and more income is visible in the formal sector.