New Delhi: “Machis kiskey haath mein they….” — the politics or precisely the parliamentary debate about it was smartly turned against Trinamool Congress by none other than India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
“Sir, who has the matchstick is not the issue. Because in democracy people elect their leaders and give (power) to them,” she said in Lok Sabha about certain remarks made by TMC member Mahua Moitra.
“We don’t need to undermine by saying kisney machis dia…Janta ne dia,” Ms Sitharaman said, adding, “But kiskey haath mein machis kaise upyog mein ata hae, wohi hae important (Who uses matchstick in the manner they want is more important)”.
Trying to strengthen her argument, the Finance Minister said, “Recently the BJP had a fantastic victory in Gujarat. Post-elections sir, what was the environment there? Peacefully the new government that came to power was sworn in. Whereas compare it with what happened in West Bengal, post elections (2021)….how the matchstick really made use of. That’s the main question”.
Amid other BJP members screaming, “entire Bengal was burnt down”, Ms Sitharaman said “When we have match stick, we give Ujala, Ujwala, we gave PM Kisan, Swachh Bharat….But when you had the same match stick (in Bengal) there was arson, loot and rape. Our party workers’ houses were burnt down”.
On top of that, the Finance Minister said Union MoS External Affairs, V. Muraleedharan’s vehicle was stoned in West Bengal during his visit.
“Even a central minister was not safe in West Bengal…post-election,” she said.
The Finance Minister also took on Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury for his question, “Is Nirav Modi your relative?”
Sitharaman said, “Not our relative….he is your relative, and that’s why he was given the money during your (UPA) tenure, but we are catching hold of them and bringing back the money”.
The Finance Minister’s practice of ‘phone instructions to banks…give money to my son-in-law and that relative has been stopped by the Narendra Modi government”.
Trinamool member Ms Moitra had also referred to the term ‘Pappu’ vis-a-vis economic management, and the Finance Minister said on this. If Moitra “looks back into her backyard, she will find Pappu in West Bengal”.
“There is no doubt when there are great schemes which can benefit common people, West Bengal sits over it and doesn’t implement them. You don’t need to search anywhere else for Pappu, you will find in Bengal,” the minister said.
Sitharaman said that India is the fastest-growing major economy in the world, with inflation within bearable limits.
She said funds under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) could not be released to West Bengal since March 2022 as the Mamata Banerjee-led dispensation has yet to reply to complaints of misuse of funds.
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