'Betrayed people's mandate': TMC MP Mahua Moitra slams Centre over CAA

Trinamool Congress (TMC) lawmaker Mahua Moitra on Monday accused the BJP-led government of betraying the voters who had expressed their faith in the party, saying that nobody wants to be part of the "us versus them" debate.

Participating in the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President's address in the Lok Sabha, Moitra accused the government of "betraying the political body" adding that people were on the streets against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the National Population Register (NPR) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

"Do not go beyond the tenets of democracy. I rise to speak of betrayal and this betrayal is not just for myself. The truth is you (BJP) have betrayed the very citizen who did vote for you," the TMC member said.

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Mahua Moitra said the BJP did not come to power only on votes of "the Hindu right" but because many common people believed in the slogan of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas'.

"You (BJP) have betrayed the young voters looking forward to their first job. You have betrayed small businessmen by your decision of demonetisation killing his market. You betrayed thousands of tribal people in Gujarat whose land you took to build a statue and to whom now you have given jobs as toilet cleaners," she said.

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'Govt questioning citizenship of its voters'

The TMC lawmaker accused the BJP government of questioning the citizenship of the people who had voted for it. Mentioning the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp, she warned that all holocaust memorials serve one reminder that it repeat itself.

"NPR, NRC, and CAA are all tools in Machevillian design to first mark out and then disenfranchise and finally annihilate. This is your biggest betrayal of those who voted for you. Nobody wants to be part of this 'us versus them' debate. My friends who voted for you in 2014 are horrified by what is happening in their name under your watch," the TMC leader said.

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Attacks FM Sitharaman

The TMC MP accused Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of being afraid of revealing the real GDP growth target.

"The Finance Minister, on the floor of the House, says that the nominal GDP target is 10 per cent. In the month of December, the Consumer Price Index was at 6.70 per cent. Does that mean that the real GDP growth rate today is 3.30 per cent? That is what the government is saying. Remember, when there is no integrity in statistics, little else remains," she said.

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(With inputs from ANI)

(Photo: PTI)