“Poorly edited, cut and paste version…”: Mahua Moitra Analyses the "Untruths" in President's Address, Calls it an "Exercise in Fallacy'"

Mahua Moitra, the Trinamool Congress MP who was expelled from the 17th Lok Sabha, made her comeback to the House with a fiery speech on Monday. The Krishnanagar MP was expelled from the 17th Lok Sabha in December 2023 in connection with the alleged cash for query scam. “I do not fear you (BJP); I will see the end of you,” asserted Moitra.

Responding to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s assdress, she took a sharp jibe at Narendra Modi led BJP. Mahua Moitra highlighted 6 themes of the Honorable President’s address that were “poorly edited cut and paste versions of old speeches” and analysed how all 6 of them are an “exercise in fallacy, and an exercise in untruth.”

1. The North East
“I have one question, why is the word ‘Manipur’ nowhere in the speech? Why do we refer to the generic North East? During the Lok Sabha Campaign the BJP and the Prime Minister mentioned many words beginning with the letter ‘M’ – Musalman, Mulla, Madrasa, Mughal, Mutton, Machli, Mujra, Mangalsutra, but not once did they mention Manipur… We don’t need you to act east. Look east, walk east, most importantly embrace east,” said Mahua Moitra hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra and the BJP for their alleged apathy towards the ethnic violence that has been raging in Manipur for over a year. “Please go to Manipur and see the blood on the streets,” she added.

2. Women Empowerment
“The address says women of the country have been getting greater representation in the Lok Sabha and the Vidhan Sabhas of the country, and today they stand empowered by the Women’s Reservation Act, this is the complete untruth. Firstly, you delayed reservation of women in the Parliament because you actually fear women, you fear nari shakti,” said Mahua Moitra taking a dig at the BJP. Moitra stated that although the saffron party talks of women representation, women of their own party are abysmally represented in the Parliament. BJP has a total of 13.6% women MPs in the 18th Lok Sabha, whereas TMC has 38%.

3. Kashmir
In her speech, Mahua Moitra raked up the contentious Kashmir issue, and how it did not work out in the favor of the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. “The address mentions after decades of shutdowns and strikes, Kashmir Valley has voted in an atmosphere of stability and security. But if abrogation Section 370 was such a good idea, why did the BJP not dare to put up candidates in the three valley seats of Ananthnag, Baramullah, and Srinagar? … The Kashmir valley has voted for MPs who were against your 2019 decision,” said Moitra, adding that the BJP “downgraded” Ladakh to a Union territory; as a result, in the General elections the Ladakhis have relegated the BJP to the third position.

4. Election Commission
The Krishnanagar MP stated that the President’s speech expresses gratitude towards the Election Commission of India for conducting the largest election in the world; however, she added that it is far from the truth. “Let us as members of the Opposition put it on record that we won in spite of the EC and not because of it” said Mahua Moitra highlighting the most “egregious violations” of the MCC that she alleges that the EC paid no heed to.

5. The Indian Railways, Aviation and Infrastructure
Mahua Moitra criticized the President's address, pointing out the emphasis on the rapid construction of bullet train corridors across India. She highlighted that according to the President’s speech, an allocation of 1 lakh 8 thousand crores has been made for a single Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train. In contrast, Moitra drew attention to recent tragedies like the Balasore and Bengal train accidents, which resulted in significant loss of life. She alleged that the "touted" Kavach anti-collision system, which costs 50 lakhs per kilometer to install across India's extensive 126 thousand kilometers of railways (totaling 63 thousand crores); this critical safety measure does not receive priority over the expensive bullet train projects. “With the current level of funding, it will take 50 years for all of India to be covered under Kavach, and you are telling us about bullet trains?” chided Mahua Moitra. She also mentioned instances where sections of various airports of the country caved in amidst the heavy downpour, claiming a life and injuring many.

6. Competitive Cooperative Federalism
“The last decade saw the most brutal government sponsored throttling of the cooperative federalism that this country has ever seen,” said the Krishnanagar MP. Underscoring several instances including the release of Bengal’s MNREGA funds, she said how the Opposition across the country was sidelined. “The government spent the past 5 years in almost perfecting an elected autocracy and by the end of 2023; this government had reached the pinnacle of their governance. Where this Parliamentrary democracy was replaced by a monstrous super-cult, the cult of the supreme leader…This was the turning point when the destiny of the ruling party changed,” said Mahua Moitra stating that PM Modi’s complacence garnered him the ire of the “Gana-Devata” who have punished him for it.

“In the last year, many people have looked at me and said, oh Mahua you must have lost a lot. You lost your membership, you lost your house, and by the way I also lost my uterus due to a surgery. But you know what I gained; I gained what Rahul ji said, the freedom from fear. I do not fear you; I will see the end of you,” said Mahua Moitra concluding her speech in the Lok Sabha.​