New Delhi [India], July 1 (ANI): Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra on Monday came down heavily on the BJP government at the Centre in the Lok Sabha for expelling her from the 17th Lok Sabha and said that four out of the five-member constituting the ethics committee which recommended her expulsion have failed to return to the House, adding that the people of Krishnanagar have protected her just like Lord Krishna protected Droupadi.
She further said that the current government is not stable as it depends on allies that have a history of u-turns.
“Seven months ago, on December 8, this House was transformed into Kurusabha, presided over by a blind Dhritrashtra, where Dushshashan darbaris made every attempt to disrobe Draupadi. The ethics committee, that voted to recommend my expulsion on November 9, they voted 6-4, had 10 members and one chairperson. Of the five Loksabha members from the BJP, four have not returned to the House, and the Chairperson, a BJP member has also not returned to the House… Much like Lord Krishna protected Droupadi, the people of Krishnanagar have protected me… I gained freedom from fear. I will see the end of you,” she said while fiercely attacking the BJP.
Targeting the BJP over securing fewer seats compared to the last Lok Sabha elections, Moitra said, “The last time I stood here I was not allowed to speak. But the ruling party has paid a very heavy price for throttling the voice of one MP. In an attempt to suppress me, the public made 63 of your members sit permanently. You have gone down from 303 to 240.”
Mahua Moitra, who was participating in the debate on the Motion Of Thanks on the President’s Address, targeted the speech and said, “The speech that the President read out, it said that people of India has elected a stable government with a clear majority. Please do not embarrass the office of the president by using poorly edited cut-and-paste versions of old speeches. This is not a stable government. It depends on multiple allies with a history of U-turns. It has not got a single majority. The BJP is 32 short of 272… This time, there are 234 warriorrs, firmly united and we have walked through fire to walk through these doors and you will bnoyt be able to shut us up this time the way you did last time.”
Moitra further said that the President’s address covers many aspects but she has chosen six themes.
“The first theme is North-East in which the President says that the government has increased allocation for the north-east by four times, and has worked for lasting peace in the area. Now I have one question, why the word Manipur is nowhere in the speech?… The party, PM Narendra Modi during their election campaign spoke many words starting with M like ‘mangalsutra’, ‘mujra’, ‘mutton’, ‘machli’, ‘musalman’, ‘mulla’, ‘madrasa’ but not Manipur… I stand here with my brothers and sisters of Manipur, Moitra said.
Talking about the second theme of women’s empowerment, Moitra said that the President’s speech says women in our country have been demanding raised representation in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and today, they stand empowered by the Women Reservation Act.
“This is a complete untruth. You conveniently delayed reservation for women in Parliament because you fear women. You fear ‘Naari Shakti.’ You want our support but you certainly don’t want us here. The 17th Lok Sabha had 78 women, which is 14.3 per cent. This Lok Sabha has 74 women, which is 13.6 per cent. The BJP had called a special session to bring in the Women Reservation bill. They have got a shameful 30 MPs out of 240 MPs, only 12.5 per cent. It is only Mamata Banerjee’s TMC which last time had 37 per cent women and this time also, has 38 per cent women representation.”
The TMC MP chose the third theme of Kashmir and said, “The address mentions that after decades of shutdown, the Kashmir valley has voted in an atmosphere of security. If abrogating Section 370 was such a good idea, why did the ruling party, the BJP not even dare to put up candidates in the three valley seats of Anantnag, Baramulla, and Srinagar? If 370 was such a big deal, and you were going to campaign on the basis of 370, you did not even dare to fight in these seats.”
Talking about the fourth theme, she said, “The fourth theme in the President’s address is the Election Commission of India (ECI). The speech expresses gratitude to ECI for conducting the largest elections in the world.”
Criticising the ECI, Moitra said, “The commissioners turned a deaf ear to the most egregious violation of the Model Code of Conduct by the ruling party, by the Prime Minister with his hate-filled speeches. This country has been ashamed and disgusted by the language used against minorities during this campaign. This election will go down in history where EC turned a blind eye and a deaf ear against the ruling party when the MCC was in effect.”
Moitra also slammed ED and CBI and said, “The opposition leaders were arrested, party accounts were frozen, ED and CBI even came to our election offices.”
Talking about Indian railways, aviation and infrastructure as the fifth theme, Moitra said, “The address says that work on the Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train is going on at a fast pace and Indian railways are doing feasibility studies for bullet train corridors in the North, South and East of India. Now, I want to ask the government a question–Is this a cruel joke? You are sanctioning Rs 1 lakh 8 thousand crores for one single Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train. A basic high-speed rail network costs Rs 200 crores per km. The indian Railways is touting the ‘Kavach’, which is an anti-collusion system, an automatic train protection system and is the cheapest in the world as it costs Rs 50 lakh per km.”
She added further, “The rail tracks in India are roughly 126 thousand km and the cost of covering India with Kavach is going to be Rs 63,000 crores whereas one single bullet train costs Rs 1 lakh 8 thousand crores.” Highlighting the recent train accidents in the country, Moitra talked about three trains colliding in Balasore, which claimed the lives of 96 people. She said, “The Ministry said that Kavach was not operational on that route. Last week, Kanchenjunga Express collided with a goods train in New Jalpaiguri and 10 people died. Again, the Ministry said that Kavach is not operational on that route.”
Talking about aviation, Moitra said, “The President’s address mentions how India is the third largest aviation hub in the world. In truth, India’s airports have become domestic hazard hubs. First in Jabalpur, then in Delhi and Rajkot. Newly constructed airports are falling and killing people.”
The TMC MP also targeted the government over cave-ins that emerged in Rampath and said, “The newly constructed Rampath in Ayodhya has three cave-ins in the last week. The Pragati Maidan tunnel is flooded. The Atal Setu has developed cracks. The Ram Temple’s roof is leaking. This is exactly what happens when the infrastructure is poorly planned and rashed for a photo opportunity by the supreme leaders.”
Talking about the sixth and last theme, Moitra said, “The sixth theme is competitive cooperative federalism. The last decade saw the most brutal, government-sponsored throttling of cooperative federalism.”
Speaking about West Bengal and Delhi, she said, “The centre has withheld Rs 7,000 crores in MGNREGA funds. It has withheld Rs 8 thousand 200 crores under the Rural Housing Scheme… Another 1000 crore has been held back under pension. In Delhi, the BJP-led Haryana govt is releasing less water which is leading to people suffering. This government’s competitive cooperative federalism seems to be an exercise on how to choke opposition states.” (ANI)
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