Journalism of Courage
Accusing the BJP government of being incompetent, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra Tuesday raised a series of questions, on industrial output, manufacturing sector and the number of people leaving India, to ask “Who’s the Pappu now?”.
The term had been coined by the ruling party “to denigrate, signify extreme incompetence”, Moitra added.
The TMC leader, who was taking part in a debate over the supplementary demand of grants in the Lok Sabha, said these would amount to an additional expenditure of about Rs 4.36 lakh crore, which will raise the fiscal deficit above the provision in the Budget, and went against “the government’s own stated goal of containing the fiscal deficit”.
According to the NSO numbers released Monday, industrial output shrunk by 4% in October to a 26-month low. The manufacturing sector, the biggest generator of jobs, contracted 5.6%, while 17 of the industry sectors that make up the Index of Industrial Production recorded negative growth rates. Forex reserves have fallen by $72 billion in just under a year, Moitra said.
The MP also talked about data shared by the government showing that the number of those who have given up citizenship in the past nine years of the Modi government is almost 12.5 lakh. “Is this the sign of a healthy economic and tax environment? Who’s the Pappu now?” Moitra said.
The TMC MP next questioned the investigations initiated by government agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate against Opposition leaders, including of her party. “The ruling party buys lawmakers for hundreds of crores in cash and yet members of the Opposition represent 95% of lawmakers under investigation by the ED… Is the objective of the ED just to harass citizens or to actually track down and punish perpetrators of financial crimes? What is this level of incompetence? Who’s the Pappu now?” Moitra said.
Raising the issue of rising fertiliser subsidy requests, she asked what the government had done to stem the overuse of urea, “which is killing the soil, productivity and killing health”. Besides, Moitra said, “Nearly Rs 2,000 crore supplementary demand is for large industries whereas a mere Rs 233 crore is for MSME industries, which account for 90% of jobs in the industrial sector. These are very distorted priorities.”
On Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement Monday that the Opposition raised questions regarding the economy “out of jealousy”, Moitra said: “I stand here today to tell the Minister, the government and the ruling party, that each of us here have given up our lives, our jibon joubon (youth) in the service of this great land and its people. We represent the farthest corners of India, from Karimpur to Kutch, Kashmir to Kanyakumari. It is our inalienable right to question your incompetence. And it is raj dharma that should make you sit down, listen to our voices, and not react like the proverbial khisiyani billi.”
Moitra took jibes at the political leadership of the BJP too, referring to the recent Assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, and the Delhi civic polls. “You fought in three states with all your might, your resources, you won in only one. The president of the ruling party (J P Nadda) could not hold on to his own home state. Who’s the Pappu now?”
Moitra accused the ruling party of “repeating falsehoods about the benefits of demonetisation ad nauseam”, and said it had not achieved any goals such as a cashless digital economy or phasing out of fake currency. “Cash is still king. Demonetisation did not achieve any of the objectives it set out to do. Who’s the Pappu now?” she said.
Amidst loud cheering from Opposition benches, Moitra recited a couplet: “Sawaal yeh nahin ki bastiyan kisne jalaayi. Sawaal yeh hai ki paagal key haath mein maachis kisne di (The question is not who lit the fire, the question is who handed the matchbox to a crazy person)?”
