New Delhi Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra on Tuesday accused the BJP members of spreading “falsehoods” about the benefits of demonetisation with no regard for actual data.
Participating in a discussion on Supplementary Demand for Grants in the Lok Sabha, the MP from Krishnanagar also asked whether the role of the Enforcement Directorate was only to harass citizens or was it to actually track down and catch the perpetrators of financial crimes.
“What is this level of incompetence? Who is the Pappu now,” she asked.
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On demonetisation, Ms. Moitra said: “You have not achieved the goals of a cashless digital economy. You have not achieved the goals of phasing out fake currency even after six years of your ‘dhamaka’ announcement. Currency in circulation has doubled from ₹18 lakh crore in November 2016 to ₹32 lakh crore in November 2022,” she said.
The TMC MP said that every February, the government had the people believe that the country’s economy was going great guns.
“We are the fastest growing, most-efficient global player, everyone is getting employment, cylinders, electricity and pucca houses. This falsehood flies for eight to 10 months and the truth comes out limping after it,” the TMC leader said.
“We are now in December and the government says it needs another ₹3.26 lakh crores as additional funds over and above the Budget estimates,” she said.
Participating in the discussion, Bahujan Samaj Party MP Danish Ali and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen MP Syed Imitiaz Jaleel sought the restoration of the pre-matric scholarship for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and Maulana Azad Fellowship for minorities.
“For prosperity of the country, everyone needs to be taken along. How can you leave minorities behind and prosper. How will minority students study, how will they progress if this fellowship is stopped,” Mr. Ali said.
The Maulana Azad Fellowship for minority students pursuing higher education has been scrapped while the government’s pre-matric scholarship for them will no longer apply to students from Class I to Class VIII.
Mr. Ali also questioned the government on whether certain corporates were importing crude oil from Russia at 32% subsidy taking advantage of the Russia-Ukraine war and after refining it exporting it to the European Union.
“Why are the government oil companies not doing it directly. Then the subsidy could have been passed on to the public and petrol which is now available at ₹100 could be available at ₹50”.
Who is ‘ Pappu’ now: Mahua Moitra’s jibe at Centre over fall in industrial output
Ms. Moitra cited government data showing a fall in the country's industrial output to question the Centre on the economic and employment scenarios, saying who is the 'Pappu' now.
She also took a swipe at the BJP over its defeat in the just-concluded Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections, saying the ruling party's president could not hold on to his home State. "Who is the Pappu now?" she asked.
Himachal Pradesh is the home State of BJP national president J.P. Nadda and in the elections, the Congress wrested the State from his party.
Seeking to corner the Centre on the economic front, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP said, "This government and the ruling party coined the term Pappu. You use it to denigrate and signify extreme incompetence. But the statistics tell us who the actual Pappu is."
Referring to the latest data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO), Ms. Moitra claimed that while the country's industrial output shrunk by 4% in October to a 26-month low, the manufacturing sector, which is "still the biggest generator of jobs", has contracted to 5.6%.
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"Seventeen of the industry sectors that make up the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) has recorded negative growth rates. Forex reserves have fallen by 72 billion dollars in under a year," she said.
The manufacturing sector's output declined by 5.6% in October 2022 as against a growth of 3.3% recorded in the year-ago month, according to the IIP data released by the NSO.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday mentioned during the Question Hour how 50% of Foreign Institutional Investors inflows into emerging markets are coming to India, but the government in reply to a question told the House last Friday that almost 2 lakh people renounced their Indian citizenship in the first 10 months of 2022, Ms. Moitra said.
"This exodus of 2022 takes the total number of Indians renouncing Indian citizenship under this government in the past nine years since 2014 to over 12.5 lakh people," she said.
"Is this sign of a healthy economic environment or a healthy tax environment [in the country]?" she asked, adding, "Who is the Pappu now?"
The TMC member alleged that there is an "atmosphere of terror" in the country today with the "sword" of the Enforcement Directorate hanging over "businessmen and high-net worth individuals" as well as leaders of opposition parties.
(With PTI inputs)
