Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha member Mahua Moitra on Tuesday attacked the government over its claims of economic progress, citing its own data on industrial output.
She then took on the government over its alleged coining of the term “Pappu.” 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.
Mahua Moitra also pointed to the “exodus” of Indians, citing data of the rising number of people renouncing their Indian citizenship.
“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,” she said. Referring to the latest data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO), Ms Moitra claimed that while the country’s industrial output shrunk by four per cent in October to a 26-month low, the manufacturing sector, which is “still the biggest generator of jobs”, has contracted to 5.6 per cent.
Every February, the government had people believe that the economy is doing great, and that everyone is getting all basic amenities like gas cylinders, housing, and electricity, Ms Moitra said, terming the claims “falsehoods”, and added that eight months later, now in December, “the truth comes limping after it.” She said the government has said it needs ₹ 3.26 lakh crore in additional funds, over and above the budget estimate.
In a Lok Sabha debate on demands for additional grants for 2022-23, Ms Moitra accused the Narendra Modi government of spreading “falsehood” about India’s growth and appealed to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to take control of the economy, which, according to the TMC leader, is going downhill.
Ms Moitra also claimed that high net worth individuals are willing to pay big money to get citizenship in other countries.
“Is this the sign of a healthy economic environment? Of a healthy tax environment? Who’s the pupu now? There is an atmosphere of terror in this country, with the sword of the Enforcement Directorate hanging over businessmen and high net worth individuals,” she said.
“The ruling party buys lawmakers for hundreds of crores of rupees and yet members of the Opposition represent 95 per cent of the lawmakers under investigation by the Enforcement Directorate,” Ms Moitra alleged.
She accused the government of spreading falsehood over India’s growth story under Prime Minister Modi and said demonetisation of high value currency enforced by it in 2016 had failed to achieve its targets as cash is “still king” and phasing out of fake currency is still a distant dream.
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