Ritabrata Banerjee’s Zero Hour mention on the demand for changing the name of West Bengal to Bangla

Sir, it is a longpending demand of the State of West Bengal to change the name of the State to Bangla. On July 26th, 2018, the State Assembly, under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee unanimously passed a Resolution to change the name of our State from West Bengal to Bangla. All sorts of clarifications were given in this regard. Hon. Chief Minister of Bengal, Shrimati Mamata Banerjee, has time and again requested to fast-track the approval. Mamata Banerjee, in her letter to the hon. Prime Minister has categorically stated, “This rechristening will be in consonance with the history, culture and identity of our State and will reflect the aspirations of our people.” After Independence, there have been many changes in the names of many States and cities. The name ‘West Bengal’ came into existence when the province of Bengal was partitioned in 1947. The eastern part came to be known as ‘East Pakistan’ and the western part was named as ‘West Bengal’. Today, there is no East Pakistan. After the Bangladesh Liberation War, it became Bangladesh. Bengal has always been the target of autocrats, pre and post Independence as Bengal refuses to bow down. As Bengal became the nerve-centre of anti-British activities, the decision of partition of Bengal was taken by Lord Curzon in 1905. Vibrant and spontaneous protests erupted throughout Bengal led by Rabindranath Tagore himself. …The polymath penned a number of patriotic songs, which became the war cry of the anti-partition struggle. *“ My Glittering golden Bengal I love You. The ambience of your Air and Sky seems like playing a flute in my heart. The soil of Bengal, the water of Bengal, the air of Bengal, the produce of Bengal. May be Blessed, May be Blessed, May be blessed, O’ my Lord.” Sir, I will be requesting you. This is a very interesting thing that the name ‘East Bengal’ was nowhere there. The name ‘East Bengal’ appears only through a club, a 105 year old club. That club represents the never say die attitude of the Bengalis who migrated, who were forced to migrate from eastern part of Bengal. I belong to a refugee family. My father came here in 1947 when he was in Class V. As a refugee, I wear the proud badge of honour. This is the culture. Anyhow, they will be doing it. I will urge upon you, the name ‘East Bengal’ is nowhere there. Our State’s name ‘West Bengal’ needs to be changed. The mandate of the people of Bengal needs to be honoured. It is incumbent upon the Government to respect the will of the ten crore people in the State and accept the proposal of Mamata Banerjee’s Government and change the name of West Bengal to Bangla. Thank you, Sir. Jai Bangla!

Mamata Thakur’s Zero Hour mention on the demand for Gangasagar Mela to be designated a ‘national fair’

“Sir, the Gangasagar Mela is one of the largest spiritual gatherings in the world, second in size only to the Kumbh Mela, yet it holds significant importance of its own. This annual fair takes place on Makar Sankranti, whereas the Kumbh Mela occurs every four years at designated locations, with one specific site hosting it every twelve years. The long history of the Gangasagar Mela is acknowledged in various historical accounts. This event is linked to the ancient trade routes of East India in the Indian Ocean, associated with Greco-Roman commerce. For Hindu devotees, the Gangasagar Mela is a vital festival of faith, imbued with deep astrological and mythological significance. Ancient Indian texts, including the Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Kalidasa’s Raghuvamsa, make references to the fair, along with figures such as Kapil Muni and the island of Sagar Dwip. Every year, hundreds of thousands of devotees from across India and around the world gather to take a holy dip during this significant event. This year, more than one crore devotees visited the Ganga Sagar Mela, and this number is expected to continue rising. The State Government of West Bengal has implemented numerous initiatives to ensure comfortable travel, accommodation, and safety for all pilgrims. Remarkably, the entire cost is covered by the State Government, with no financial contribution from the Government of India. Given the uniqueness, significance, magnitude, and spiritual depth of the Ganga Sagar Mela, I urge the Central Government to grant it the status of a National Mela. If a similar incident to the Kundcenter issue had occurred at Ganga Sagar, multiple teams from the center would have already arrived in Bengal.”

Sougata Ray’s speech during the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address

Sir, I rise to speak on the President’s Address. I speak in favour of all the amendments that I moved. The President’s Address hides one fact that this Government is not a one-party Government. It is an NDA Government. But Prime Minister Modi ji behavesas if it is a one-party Government not admitting that his Party did not get a majority in the Lok Sabha. The hon. President repeats the slogans like Stand-Up India, Start-Up India, Digital India, Atmanirbhar Bharat, Lakhpati Didi, and Nari Shakti without mentioning the success of the schemes. Sir, Akhilesh ji has spoken at length on the Kumbh tragedy. I do not want to deliberate further. But it is one of the worst tragedies in independent India. And the responsibility for this failure is entirely that of the State and the Central Governments. All we want to know is the number of people died in Kumbh. They should come out with the facts. That is my demand. The worst thing is that the President’s Address did not mention Manipur which has seen ethnic clashes for more than a year. The hon. President herself is a tribaland tribals have died in Manipur. Recently,a tape has surfaced which was produced in the Supreme Court yesterday which says that the Manipur Chief Minister incited violence against the tribals of Manipur. We want the hon. Prime Minister to visit Manipur immediately. The President’s Address does not mention the problems of kisan. This is the country of Kisansand Kisans are on the warpath. The Sanyukt Kisan Morcha has been leading an agitation for some time. All they want is a statutory arrangement for the minimum support price. Sir, Dallewal is on hunger strike till death. There was no mention in the President’s Address on the kisan agitation. There is no mention of the State’s demand. We in West Bengal are up against the deprivation of West Bengal in the Central Budget. Not only us, several States like Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka and Telangana have complained that no allocations have been made in the name of the State’s budget. The hon. President does not mention how equitable distribution of wealth may be made between the Centre and the States. In West Bengal, still Rs. 7,500 crore are due under MGNREGA. The hon. President does not make any mention of that. The President’s speech does not mention that the growth is going down. After she spoke, rupee value has come down to Rs.87 per dollar. The President does not care that the growth is going down. Modi going to US will not improve the state of the rupee. Sir, the Centre and the BJP are dividing the people. There are many problems in our country. But the Centre is busy in passing the Waqf Act. What is the urgency of the Waqf Act? States are bringing different laws. Uttarakhand has brought Uniform Civil Code. Rajasthan has brought an anti-conversion law. While the President will take a dip during Kumbh and prostrate in the Ram Mandir, the RSS Chief says that Independence came only when Ram Mandir was established. Sir, the Muslims feel left out. The Government is not creating an atmosphere of unity in the country. They are bent on taking steps which will divide the people. In the President’s speech, mention is made of Jammu and Kashmir. For the first time in the history of the Constitution, a State was made into a Union Territory. The President’s Speech does not mention anything about when Jammu and Kashmir would be given full statehood. The President’s speech says that India is the third largest economy. It is a boost. But do we have any idea of where we stand? We are struggling to go to five trillion dollars in size of the economy, but China is at 19 trillion; US is at 32 trillion. With less than five trillion dollars, we are saying that we have gone great guns and the economy has developed. Sir, the need to catch up with China in manufacturing and electronic goods is not mentioned. Yesterday, Mr. Rahul Gandhi mentioned that the whole of the mobile phone is manufactured in China. We are having problem with pollution. We need electric buses. The lithium battery is manufactured in China. I want to ask what progress has been achieved in 10 years of Make in India. Even in artificial intelligence, we are setting up a mission whereas China has already beaten US. US had a company called OpenAI. China started a company called Deepseek which has beaten OpenAI in artificial intelligence. The President’s speech does not mention the handicap we have in artificial intelligence. While we are speaking as if India were all well, in Assam, seven workers have died in rathole mining. We send our workers down into ratholes. They don’t survive. Still in the country, 40 per cent is manual scavenging. Just two days ago in Kolkata, three people died in manual scavenging. The President’s speech does not mention the problem of manual scavenging in the country. The President does not mention the worsening of mental well-being of Indians with over-exposure to social media, lack of exercises, less family ties, and overwork. Sir, the speech does not mention about the unhealthy work culture in IT companies. It does not mention that some industrialists are saying that 90 hours of work should be there. If we cannot create a healthy atmosphere for the workers, the country will ultimately not progress. The President’s Speech does not mention unemployment. It does not mention the large number of vacancies in Railways and other Government Departments. The speech, if you see, is silent on pollution. Here, sitting in Delhi, the President herself is affected by pollution. It is killing. It is a slow killer of our people. Now in Delhi, during this winter, air pollution AQI went up to 400. The President is silent on that. The electric buses have not come. Vehicular pollution has become the major source of pollution. The President is totally silent on that. The President does not mention the drug problem in the country. We have seen Udta Punjab, how drugs have affected Punjab. Now the President is silent. The Narcotics Control Bureau has failed to catch those drug smugglers. A large number of our youths are unemployed on one side, they are on the other side. सर, ड्रग्स स्मगि होती है, िेवकन पकड़ी नहीं जाती है। सबसेज्यादा ड्रग्स मंद्रुा पोटिसेआती है। मंद्रुा पोटिका माविक कौन है– अदाणी! यह तो हाित है। The President does not speak about unsettled conditions in our neighbouring countries. Pakistan is unsettled. Sri Lanka is unsettled. But Bangladesh is most unsettled. There is an attack on Hindus in Bangladesh. Temples are destroyed. I do not know why the Hindutvawala Prime Minister, who prostrates in the Ram Temple, is silent on the atrocities of Hindus in Bangladesh? It is he who has to reply. The Speech does not speak about monopolies. The same family owns airports, sea ports and cement companies. The President does not speak anything about removing monopolies. The same company is controlling the petroleum and petrochemical industry. The President is silent, meaning silence is encouraging them. Sir, no mention is made about cleaning the Ganga. The Prime Minister started big that he will clean up the Ganga. Now, in the President’s Speech, no mention is made of that. Ganga flows by my constituency also. It is polluted. Pollution in Ganga is creating major health problems in the areas adjoining the Ganga River. The President does not speak anything on that. The President does not mention it. She has spoken about naari shakti. But she has not mentioned about our naaris, women wrestlers being molested. She has remained silent about the BJP MP being accused of molesting our medal-winning women wrestlers. The President hides and the President does not reveal the facts. You must read the Economic Survey. I think, it is a very good document. One of the points it makes is about mental well-being. The other point it makes is that exorbitant private college fees deny underprivileged access to medical colleges. Vande Bharat and Namo Bharat are good trains. It is a good effort. But has the Railway Minister gone once and seen the condition of passengers on the local trains in Kolkata? People ride on the trains like cattle. As my friend Kalyan Banerjee mentions, the Railway Minister is starting new trains. But the food in Rajdhani trains is getting worse and worse. : So, you are on the top. You are building a railway into Jammu and Kashmir. It is a good thing. But what about the trains that are there? They are in a horrible condition. You do not get time to take trains these days. Do yougo to Domariyaganj by train or by car? … आपबोितेहैंवक ‘उड़ान योजना’ के तहत आप कुिीनगर हिाई जहाज सेजा सकतेहैं, िेवकन हिाई जहाज सेकौन जा रहा है? गांि के िोगों केपास पैसेही नहीं हैं। येसबवमसिीवडंग करनेिािी बातेंहैं। Sir, I want to say that the President certainly mentioned that the 125th birth anniversary of Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee is being celebrated. I come from the area where Dr. Syama Prasad lived. He is not worshipped in Bengal because he never went to jail during the British period. He led a Ministry called Shyama-Haq Ministry in Bengal. So, you may worship him. You may worship Savarkar. The President may. We do not worship them because they compromised with the Britishers. This is the basic difference between you and us. I have heard that in education we have made progress. Do you know that there is not a single Indian university in the first 200 universities of the world? There is Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, MIT. Like that, Chinese universities are there. Singapore universities are there. Australian universities are there. There is not even one Indian university among the top universities. Sir, I will now slowly wind up. Basically, the President’s Government is a Government which uses communalism to further its political end. It is a Government which compromises with the monopoly without looking into the well-being of the people. That is why, I cannot support this speech. It is only spreading hatred and differences. We cannot tolerate it. I am told that the Prime Minister is going to US. I request him to act not like the Mexican President. At least, persuade Trump not to increase tariffs on India. You know that on the Budget day, our stock markets did not move. They did not rise because they all look from here to what Trump does. With this, I oppose the President’s speech and I support my amendments. Thank you.

Derek O’Brien’s speech during the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address

As is the tradition, let me begin by thanking the Hon. President. Any criticism of her speech is not directed at the Hon. President or the highest constitutional office.It is an established convention that the speech is scripted by the Government. From 2014 to2024, Mr Modi’s BJP Government wrote the SCRIPT. This year, a creaky, shaky NDA
coalition government has written the SCRIPT.I am immensely proud as an Indian to have listened to the Hon. President, who is a woman.I am immensely proud as an Indian to have heard the Finance Minister, who is a woman.
I am immensely proud that the All India Trinamool Congress was founded 28 years ago by a self-made woman. And talking about women… The BJP, for all its big talk, has 13% women MPs. AITC 39% (a decade before the Women’s Reservation Bill may be passed, MamataBanerjee’s Trinamool Congress implements).35% of ministerial positions in the Bengal government are held by women.SCRIPTS! Indian films and their SCRIPTS have played a significant role in telling the story of India.

TODAY’S THEME, 10 FILMS FROM INDIA ENTERED TO THE OSCARS.

Mother India (1957. Starring Nargis): Shows how a family of farmers were ruined trying to
pay back moneylender.
• In last five years, agricultural wages grew by just 0.2%.
• 2 out of 5 farmers are in debt. Average debt of Rs 75,000
• 30 farmers commit suicide everyday.
• Still no legal guarantee for MSP
• Bangla Shoshyo Bima Yojana, state pays entire premium, Rs 3500 crore spent, 1.12
crore farmers benefitted.

SECOND FILM
Apur Sansar (1959. Directed by Satyajit Ray): Starts with a graduate who is unemployed.
• 75 lakh youth enter the labour force every year in India
• 8 out of 10 unemployed are youth
• Unemployment rate 6 times higher for those who have studied till higher secondary, and
9 times for graduates, than those who could not read or write.

THIRD FILM
Akhri Khat (1967. Debut film of Rajesh Khanna): A woman is sold off for Rs 500 by her
stepmother, subjected to abuse.
• 51 crimes against women are registered every hour.
• 85 cases of rape reported every day
• 3 out of 10 married women have experienced spousal violence. No exception for marital
rape in new criminal laws.
• Champion women wrestlers. BJP ex-MP who is a criminal

FOURTH FILM
Garm Hava (1974. Balraj Sahni lead actor, based on a short story by Ismat Chugtai): Shows
how a minority family who decided to stay in India after partition were treated horribly.
• Punished for what you eat, what you wear, who you love.
• Anti-conversion laws violate Fundamental Rights under Article 14, 15 and 25 of the
Constitution
• Extra jurisdictional land laws (Waqf). Issue constitutional, not religious
• Hate crimes, hate speech. Acknowledge Christians and their contribution.
• In CHRISTIAN RUN educational institutions, 3 out of 4 students are non-Christians.
Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist.

FIFTH FILM
Salaam Bombay (1988. First feature film directed by Mira Nair): Shows how a child is forced
into labour and exploited.
• 20-30 lakh child labourers in the country. 2021 Census still not done.
• 1 out of 2 of the world’s wasted (low weight for height) children live in India. PM poses
with children promoting his book EXAM WARRIORS.
• NFHS-5 data: 32% children underweight, 35% children stunted
• 8 out of 10 children lack WHO recommended balanced diets. Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan,
Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh worst

SIXTH FILM
Lagaan (2001. Aamir Khan): The British force high taxes on a village plagued with drought.
• Individuals are paying more income tax (19% of govt revenue) than corporates (17%).
• Personal income tax made up 53% percent of direct taxes in 2023-24, the highest in 24
years.
• INCOME INEQUALITY. Top 10% of population holds 77% of total wealth.
• CESS not shared with states. In 2012, cess formed 7% of Union government’s total tax
revenues. In 2023, increased to 16%.
• States deprived of funds. Politically oppose you so punish. Fiscal federal terrorism.
Bengal owed over Rs 15,000 crore under MNREGA, Awas Yojana. Total dues 1.7 lakh
crore.

SEVENTH FILM
Shwaas (2004. Marathi film, based on a real life incident in Pune): A grandfather takes his 8
year old grandson for a check up and finds he has retinal cancer, has to be operated.
• Remove 18% GST on health and term insurance
• Ayushman Bharat conditions
• Bengal’s Swasthya Sathi (2 years earlier) no conditions. Card in name of woman head
of family. Parents of both spouses included.

EIGHTH FILM
Peepli Live (2010. Produced by Aamir Khan Productions): A farmers off the cuff remark
about committing suicide is turned into a sensationalist media circus.
• MEDIA OWNERS. DISCLOSURE. MPs disclose, so why not media owners.
Journalists fight for your rights against media owners.
• Kumbh mela tragedy. Discussion was allowed during Delhi tragedy on 29 July. Why
was no discussion allowed today?

NINTH FILM
Court (2015. Marathi film): Shows how a man is falsely accused and trapped in the legal
system
• The 22nd Law Commission suggested sedition should be well-defined. Union
government did opposite of that in BNS.
• UAPA conviction rate less than 3%.
• Father Stan Swamy case.

TENTH FILM
Newton (2017. Hindi film. Rajkumar Rao plays the titular role): An idealistic govt officer sent
on election duty and the problems he faces.
• Institutions like EC, CBI, ED being weakened.
• 95% of political leaders investigated by CBI and ED are Opposition leaders.
• Since 2014, 95% of opposition leaders being investigated by Central agencies got
reprieve when they went to BJP.
The best script writers are the people of India. They will write a new script, and then this
horror film will come to The End.

Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar’s speech during the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address

Sir, thank you. I stand here on behalf of All India Trinamool Congress and my leader, Ms. Mamata Banerjee, to take part in the Motion of Thanks on the speech addressed to both the Houses by Mahamahim Rashtrapati ji, Shrimati Droupadi Murmu ji. Today is Basant Panchami, so, I also express my greetings to all Members here and to all the citizens, and I wish there was a holiday for us. हम इममीनान सेपूजा करते, लेककन वह नहीं हुआ। I am a very religious person, a devout Hindu, but I believe and respect all religions, and that is why, like me, there were millions of Indians who were preparing for the Maha Kumbh Mela that was supposed to take place after 144 years. Some of the poor people were saving money to go and take the maha snan on the Mauni Amavasya. Sad to say, Mahamahim Rashtrapati ji, in her message, spent only 61 words to express her sorrow and has not condemned the death, has not given condolence message to the families of the dead. We are very sorry for it because she has totally neglected the dead people. There is definitely a discrepancy between the number of dead bodies in the morgues as said by the doctors and the number of dead bodies or the people missing that we see. The same thing had happened in the State during the COVID-19 times. So, in this State how much ever the advertisement they did, but as far as the preparedness is concerned, disaster management is concerned, they have failed. They are giving zero because they should not be given this kind of a responsibility where they play with the lives of the common man like this. After we go on to her speech where she mentions about the middle-class, you know the National Council of Applied Economic Research says that 30 per cent of the total population of India belongs to the middle-class. We had the Budget on the next day in which a lot of promises were made. Who is the middleclass? People who earn between Rs.2 lakh and Rs.10 lakh per year are supposed to be the middle class. But what about inflation? What about food inflation? What about support to the farmers? What about waiving of the loans for the farmers? Nothing is mentioned in the speech of Mahamahim Rashtrapati ji. I am sorry to say that loans of the multinationals and the billionaires have been waived by the banks but not that of the farmers. This is absolutely unwarranted in a country where we depend on the farmers for our food. We live in the cities. We do not grow our foods. The farmers do. They toil in and out. They were sitting at the Singhu border. In the border, they were tortured, but they were not given the waivers. I‍िwould‍िalso‍िlike‍िto‍िdraw‍िattention‍िto‍िthe‍िhon.‍िRashtrapati‍िji’s‍िspeech‍िwhere‍ि she talks about teaching. She says that the number of colleges has been increased; the number of universities has been increased. But is it not an irony that there are no teachers? The number of teachers has not been increased and the amount is absolutely ridiculous. What is being taught in certain States? I do not want to name those States because there also, as in the Maha Kumbh, there is failure. In the same State, teaching is such a failure. The teachers do not know how to add nine plus thirteen, what to talk about the students. Mahamahim Rashtrapati ji talks about the medicines where she says that some drugs have been made customs duty free. That is definitely welcome. But there are many, many other drugs which need to be made custom duty free. Also, there are certain equipment because only medicines do not help patients. Some of the equipment that are being used for the patients in different hospitals of the country are charged 300 per cent customs duty. But nothing is happening. I would just like to draw the attention of Mahamahim Rashtrapati ji. * “Life‍िof‍िa‍िhuman‍िbeing‍िis‍िnot‍िmeasured‍िin‍िyears‍िor‍िdays.‍ि‍िTheir‍िwork‍िis‍ि the yardstick‍िfor‍िthis.” It should be realised that the work we do, the work we do for people is more important than the statistics we give. Here,‍िit‍िis‍िsaid‍ि‘Housing‍िfor‍िAll’.‍ि‍िA‍िhuge‍िnumber‍िis‍िbeing‍िpromised‍िfor‍ि three-crore families with a budget of Rs.5,36,000 crore. But I would like to draw the attention of this august House and also Mahamahim Rashtrapati ji that more than 11 lakh families in West Bengal are suffering and spending their nights under the open sky since 2022. When these families received sanction after we applied, more than 60 teams went from the Central Government and they checked all the data. An Action Taken Report was also sent from the State of West‍िBengal‍िfor‍िthis‍िmoney‍िto‍िgo,‍िthe‍िCentral‍िGovernment’s‍िpart‍िof‍िthe‍िmoney,‍ि to more than 11 lakh families. It appears that there is some kind of an economic blockade or some kind of an economic betrayal for West Bengal from the Central Government. This has not been mentioned here. This is for the Awas Yojana. We are requesting again for these people and for the common men. The poor person, who is spending with his family under the open sky, has done no mistake and he is not a political person. Why did they spite on him? It is because people of West Bengal have never voted for the Bharatiya Janata Party and they have always defeated. So, this is not the right thing to do. She has said that there is a multi-fold increase in the number of seats in medical colleges. Well, it has definitely increased. But sometimes, the college fees are exorbitant. She is saying that there is a neo middle-class which is coming up. There is no middle-class at all. It is because of the inflation that the middle-class is shrinking; the middle-class cannot afford to pay the bills; the middle-class cannot afford to buy the fuel; and the middle-class cannot afford to buy food. There is food inflation in the country. And the Government has done nothing to take care of the middle-class. Ms. Mamata Banerjee, my leader, has been taking care of the people by giving them free food, free education, and free clothes. The whole country should follow her example. You beat a lot of drums when you say that the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam was passed. Yes, it was passed in this august House. But when the elections came, we did not see so many ladies coming from the Bharatiya Janata Party, neither during nomination nor being present in the House. The only political Party in the country, which has fielded women and which has more than 33 per cent women, is the All India Trinamool Congress. It is due to Ms. Mamata Banerjee. She respects women. She has brought them here. Not only here, but also, in the local bodies and in each step of the administration, she is giving respect to the women and she is bringing them to the mainstream. Somebody might stand up from there and say that you cannot take her name as she is not the Member of the House. She is the Chief Minister of West Bengal. She is taking care of the poor. She is taking care of the Dalits. She is taking care of the women. She is taking care of the children. But look at the state of affairs here where the Adivasis are neglected and all the other poor people are neglected. The Awas Yojana has not reached those people. The sanction was given in 2022 but till now, in 2025, the poor people have not received it. In the speech, she lauds the daughters of the country by saying that they bring us medals. That is appreciable. But let me tell you that these golden girls हमारी सरताज हैं। इस परहमेंनाज है। But the hon. MP, sitting here, molested them. He was not punished. It is so shameful that his son has come back here. So, does it show that the women are respected; that the golden girls are respected; and that the sports women are respected, by this Government? So, the speech is absolutely wrongly written. I would request that when the speech is written, then they should consider what they are writing for the Mahamahim Rashtrapati ji because it is coming out from the highest Office. People are listening to her. They should not feed her with wrong information which goes against the ethos of our Constitution. Just now, the LoP was speaking about the Constitution of India. At every step, the Constitution is not respected. We must keep in mind that our Constitution forms the backbone, and our country became Independent in 1947 and not last year in 2024. Any person can have their own religious belief. I am a devout Hindu but I respect all religions, and we celebrate all festivities. Like my leader, Ms. Mamata Banerjee‍िsays,‍ि“Dharmo Jar Jar, Utsav Sobar”.‍िEverybody‍िcan‍िtake‍िpart.‍िSo,‍ि when they did this, they should not have spoken like that. That is disrespecting the Constitution. You should not be doing it. The Global Hunger Index puts our country at 105th rank out of 127 countries. The index is 27.3. About child wasting, it is the highest in the world. The children of different States are not getting enough to eat. During the 2014 elections, a lot of jobs were promised. Where are those jobs now? Sir, 46 per cent of unemployment is there in the country. Out of the total population, 28 per cent of the population is between the age of 15-29 years looking for jobs and you will be astonished Sir that more the education, more the joblessness. A graduate is more akin to get jobless than an unskilled labour. Persons, who have passed graduation, postgraduation, Ph.D., are applying for menial labour or unskilled labour. When the advertisement is coming for such jobs, they are applying because there is no job. It is like the LOP was saying that there is no projection for production and for having more production. There is a telephone Public Sector company where 48,000 people lost their jobs. Was it done just to let one private telephone communication company thrive? Those 48000 people, who lost their jobs, were working in private sector but the Government did not take care of them. Foreign Direct Investment has entered into insurance where people keep their hard-earned money. A person gets it at the end of the day or when he is not there, his family gets it. So, you have the FDI coming into that. You have the FDI coming into seeds. When the Seed Bill was passed, the farmers protested. Nobody listened to them. Is this a democracy where nobody listens to the common people? And you just go on passing Bills. We also protested when the common NEET was brought. It was National Eligibility Entrance Test. We requested let it happen in regional languages throughout the country because students used to study in their mother tongue and when they are applying for it in Class XI and XII standards, let them sit and write in their own language. But the Government did not listen. They have a common test for which many poor students cannot apply for the NEET. So, this also should be undone and they should be allowed to sit and write exam in their own mother tongue. When this initiative is giving rise to digital commerce, well, it is appreciable. But do you know how many lakhs of crores of rupees have been lost by people? Either the message comes on the Whatsapp or the message comes in email or there is a phone call saying your electric bill is due, you either pay just now by pressing zero. And as soon as you press zero, all your bank accounts get empty. Lakhs of crores of rupees have been lost by people through this cybercrime. Who are these people operating this nexus or this cybercrime? It is sometimes from outside the country also. I am to understand from very reliable sources, I do not want to quote because we are not supposed to discuss Committee things outside. We have about 500 students of IIT, different IIT engineers, trying to find out who is operating this from where, from which part of the country and which part of the world. We know some places. I do not want to say this here but they are operating like this and they are siphoning off money from‍िpeople’s‍िbank accounts. This cybercrime is taking place at a large scale. A video call from some people comes and somebody puts on the phone to talk. That picture is taken and superimposed and then, he is black-mailed. So, these things are happening. The cybercrime is destroying the peace of the country. The sanctity of the ladies of the country is being destroyed. What is the Government doing for that? So, they were not prepared before they started this online transaction. Without learning how to swim, they jumped into the pool. And that is why, people are getting this kind of messages. So, we would request that the Government should take up cybercrime very seriously and look at it, so that the people do not lose their hard-earned money. So, we would like also to request about the Eastern side. There are eight States. Not one word was used to talk about Manipur. For one whole year, Manipur is burning. More than that, houses have burned in Manipur. Ladies have been gangraped. Children have been born in the camps, and none of our hon. Ministers, not our Prime Minister had the time. He has time to visit the States where there is election. But he has no time to go to Manipur where our hon. Chief Minister, Shrimati Mamata Banerjee sent a team. We went there and saw how babies are in the makeshift relief camps. There is no baby food. More than 6,000 houses have been burnt. There is an ethnic war going on and there was not a single word about how many square kilometres of India is occupied by foreigners. I do not want to name but foreign power is occupying parts of Arunachal Pradesh and parts of Ladakh. Why should we allow my motherland be occupied by foreigners and bow down to them? Do we not have the courage to stand up and protect my motherland? Thank you, Sir

Kirti Azad’s supplementary question requesting for reduction in the prices of petrol and diesel, and removal of GST on commonly-used food items to remove burdens from the people

अध्यक्ष जी, मेरा बहुि ही महत्वपूणन प्रश् न है। मैंयह जानना चाहिाहू ं दक क्या यह सच नहींहैपेरोल-डीज़ल के िाम आसमान छूरहेहैंऔर सरकार नेखान-ेपीनेपर18 प्रदिशि जीएसटी लगाईहुईहै? … यदि सरकारपेरोल-डीज़ल के िाम कम कर िे, जो वषन2014 सेपहलेिाम आधेकरनेकी बाि थी और खाने-पीनेकी चीज़ों सेजीएसटी हटा िेिो क्या लोगों को मंहगाई की िारी मार सेराहि नहीं दमलेगी? …  क्या मंत्री जी यहबिानेका प्रयास करेंगे?

Saket Gokhale’s Point of Order on the House’s need to confine itself, during the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address, to discussing only those issues mentioned in the Address

Sir, I have a point of order. Sir, I refer to Rule no. 15; ‘Scope of discussion’ on the President’s Address and Messages to Council. It says, “On such day or days or part of any day, the Council shall be at liberty to discuss the matters referred to in such Address on a Motion of Thanks moved by a Member and seconded by another Member.” Sir, this is campaigning for Delhi Elections…The President has not … Whatever is being referred to, has not been spoken in the President’s Address.

‘ধর্ষকের দুনিয়ায় কোনও জায়গা নেই’ : মমতা বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায়

গুড়াপের শিশু ধর্ষণ খুনে দোষী প্রতিবেশী প্রৌঢ়কে ফাঁসির সাজা শুনিয়েছে চুঁচুড়ার পকসো আদালত।পকসো কোর্টের বিচারক চন্দ্রপ্রভা চক্রবর্তী দোষীকে সর্বোচ্চ সাজা শোনান। পুলিশের ভূমিকার ভূয়সী প্রশংসা করে এ প্রসঙ্গে মমতা বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায় নিজের এক্স হ্যান্ডেলে লিখেছেন, ‘আজ, আদালত গুড়পের নাবালিকাকে ধর্ষণ ও খুনের দায়ে দোষী সাব্যস্ত ব্যক্তিকে মৃত্যুদণ্ড দিয়েছে। আমি বিচার বিভাগকে এর জন্য ধন্যবাদ জানাই। পাশাপাশি হুগলি গ্রামীণ জেলা পুলিশকে তাদের দ্রুত পদক্ষেপ এবং পুঙ্খানুপুঙ্খ তদন্তের জন্য ধন্যবাদ জানাই। যার ফলে ৫৪ দিনের মধ্যে দ্রুত বিচার এবং দোষী সাব্যস্ত করা সম্ভব হয়েছে।’

 

https://x.com/MamataOfficial/status/1880242769513570489

মানুষকে ভুল বোঝানো হয়েছিল,কিন্তু মিথ্যা বেশি দিন চলে না : মমতা বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায়

বছর শেষে সন্দেশখালিতে মমতা বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায়। সন্দেশখালির ঋষি অরবিন্দ মিশনের মাঠে প্রশাসনিক সভা করেন মমতা বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায়। সেখানে মমতা বন্দ্যোপাধ্যাযে বক্তব্যের কিছু অংশ

মানুষকে আরও কাছাকাছি পরিষেবা দেওয়ার জন্য উত্তর ২৪ পরগনা জেলায় নতুন মহকুমা করা হবে

আপনার টাকা, আপনার অধিকার। আমাদের প্রকল্পের জন্য টাকা লাগে না। কাউকে টাকা দেবেন না

আমি চাই সন্দেশখালির ছেলেমেয়েরা এগিয়ে যাক। তারা এক নম্বর স্থানে আসুক। বিশ্ব জয় করুক।সকলে মিলেমিশে থাকবেন। দুষ্টু লোকের খপ্পরে পড়বেন না। মহিলাদের বলছি কেউ ডাকলে চলে যাবেন না

টাকার অঙ্কে খেলা হয়েছে। মানুষকে ভুল বোঝানো হয়েছিল। কিন্তু মিথ্যা বেশি দিন চলে না। আমি চাই সন্দেশখালির ছেলেমেয়েরা এগিয়ে যাক

খুব সুন্দর মিটিং হয়েছে। নজরকাড়ার মতো। সন্দেশের মতো মিষ্টি।সন্দেশখালির মানুষকে ধন্যবাদ। নতুন বছরের প্রাক্কালে সবাই ভাল থাকবেন। নতুন বছরের শুভেচ্ছা। নতুন বছরে গঙ্গাসাগর পৌষমেলা এবং আরও অনুষ্ঠান আছে। আর বাঘিনিটি ভালো আছে। বন দফতরের কর্মী এবং অন্যরা সমন্বয় করে ভাল কাজ করেছেন

 

Derek O’Brien’s speech during the Special Discussion on the 75th anniversary of adoption of the Constitution of India

Sir, every Member of my Party has taken one word from the Preamble as a theme and spoken on it, on the Constitution. The Constitution is more than a book in a library. It is a living, breathing document on the streets of India. We have heard lots from 1940, 1950, 1960 and 1970, lots in the 40s and 50s, and good. History is always useful. But I wish to take you on the streets of this living, breathing document. Let me start with 1984. A young lawyer, a part-time milk booth attendant, a political activist in 1984 suddenly went to the United Nations within one year 1984-85. Why? It is because this Constitution gave that person a chance to be elected to the Lok Sabha. It was Rajiv Gandhi who gave her a ticket. Doesn’t matter bank account, doesn’t matter social status, but she got the ticket and, after that, went and represented India at the United Nations. There are many light-hearted stories about how she took her murmurah around because she still lives in that one room home in Kolkata. That was 1984 and the Constitution made that happen for her. In 1997, again, the Constitution, not in a library but, on the streets. The Congress party, she felt, was too close to the CPI(M). So, they had a Bengal seminar, big seminar in Bengal, of the Congress Party. They had it inside the stadium. This lady had her own conference outside the stadium. Five thousand people came inside the stadium. Fifty thousand people came outside the stadium. This is the Constitution on the streets. There are about 40-50 examples. I will just give you one more. And, that is fighting for farmers. All options had run out. So, she went on a 26-day hunger strike. This is a woman who has sent people like me to Parliament. Next time, you people here talk about women, listen to what this woman has to tell you. One is, Women’s Reservation Bill. You brought it. When will women come into Parliament? It is 2034. In my party, All India Trinamool Congress, out of our 43-44 MPs, 38 per cent of women are already in Parliament. This is the kind of a debate we should be having. Otherwise, it is screaming and shouting! What have you done for women in Parliament? In the last Lok Sabha, it was 14.5 per cent. This Lok Sabha, you brought it down to 13.5 per cent! Don’t talk to us about women. I am glad you took a good idea from a State –State health card, Swasthya Sathi and, two years later, you turned it into Ayushman Bharat. Good. But, the health card in Bengal is in the name of the woman of the house. And, under Lakshmir Bhandar, Rs. 1,200-1,500 given to women, I welcome that the idea started by Mamata Banerjee in Bengal many years ago has now been copied by multiple States. Very good! But, see your arrogance! On a day where we are debating the Constitution of India, your hubris makes you bring a Bill to amend the Constitution at 12 noon! Bring it, we will fight you. We will defeat you; on the One-Nation-One-Election. And you are bringing this Bill. For heaven’s sake, you cannot conduct one election in one State in one phase. You need seven phases! I will give you examples. You can’t conduct one election in one constituency! You need two different days. Sir, it has been a 30-hour debate. There are one lakh forty-six thousand words in the Constitution. I want to talk about three important words which are not in the Constitution. Very important. And, let us reflect. Federalism! As per your view, you say, cooperative federalism. Your view is PF, not ‘provident fund’ but ‘political federalism’. What do you say? You say, ‘We don’t like you. We can’t defeat you. So, what we will do? We will block MGNREGA funds and we will block Awas Yojana funds.’ It doesn’t matter. We brought our own funds to pay in Bengal. You will do this. It is because double engine is an unconstitutional concept. We spend so much time on words, words, words. I want to pause for 10 seconds and give my 10 seconds for everyone, through you, Sir, to introspect. Think about it. Federalism! Second word not mentioned in the Constitution – ‘media.’ And, we have all the respect for journalists; all of them, not mentioned in the Constitution. I want to use this platform of Parliament to ask the 10 biggest media owners. You are watching this, I hope. The ten biggest media owners! Don’t give me examples of 1975 in the Emergency. No! The ten big media owners, you are the billionaires. The next seven seconds are for you. In silence, reflect, and introspect. And the third word not mentioned in the Constitution, which is very important, is the ‘Opposition’. It is not mentioned in the Constitution. It is the very basic rule. The Opposition must have its say. We do not have the numbers here. The Government will have its way. It is as simple as that. So allow us to have our say. I am happy that the hon. Home Minister is here because sometimes, the Opposition is not in Parliament. Let me give you two examples. One, unanimous resolution passed in the Bengal Assembly to fast track a Bill for the safety of the women who are raped, the Aparajita Bill. And the second example is to change the name of the State to ‘Bangla’. Where are these Bills? The Governor’s office – deep freeze. After that, it comes to high constitutional office. I have no problem with the high constitutional office, not at all, because the high constitutional office will only act on the advice of Mr. Modi, Mr. Shah, the Home Minister, the Cabinet. I want the high constitutional office or those advising on these issues of the Opposition to reflect. Sir, reflection is difficult. Reflection has to be in silence. So, don’t hassle me when I am speaking. Then, the Farm Bills. What happened on that? I have got 30 examples of the Parliament. I will take one. Sir, 146 MPs were thrown out for another Bill, Criminal law Bills. There is an enabling act of the Nazis that they brought there in 1933. Read that because that also gives you similarity. But come to the Farm Bills. What happened to the Farm Bills? The Opposition objected. Why? It is because we wanted voting on the Bills. What happened when the Opposition objected? Everyone got suspended. The videos went out. “Oh! The Opposition was dancing or moving around on the tables!” My question is: When you repealed the Farm Bills, you quietly sat down and repealed the Farm Bills. Why did not you allow the Opposition to debate that subject when you repealed those Bills? Allow us. Sir, in all this, some of these explanations will not be understood because there are parties like mine led by Mamata Banerjee and the people of Bengal. You try and get us in Bengal, every time out of ten seats, you lose three, we win eight. So, you are stuck with that. Sir, we will not allow this Parliament to ever become an RSS shakha. Never! We will fight for it. But I want to end on a celebratory note, on a happy note. I have stayed only with the Constitution. And when I started, I said that the Constitution is more than a book in the library. It is a living, breathing document on the streets, and I know these streets of Kolkata, of every district in Bengal. Sir, I will end with a story. It is a reality. There is a Jewish bakery in Kolkata where a week away from Christmas,– there must be about 4,000-5,000 Jews in India — the Jewish bakery makes delicious Christmas cakes. All the 300 bakers in that Jewish bakery belong to one community. They are all Muslims, each one of them. And about a week before Christmas, there are long lines outside the bakery, and if you go and ask the people in those lines, they will tell you, “Bhaskar, Reema, Arun”. It does not matter, they are all Indians, but they are in that line in that Jewish bakery. Eighty per cent are Hindus. … Sir, I will take one more minute. And, what are they celebrating? A Christian festival! Sir, I want to conclude by saying, come to Bengal. Come at the end of March. Now, you can come and celebrate Christmas. Come at the end of March to line up on Red Road and watch the Eid prayers. Or, mark the date, on the 30th of April, come to Digha to see the beautiful new Jagannath Temple. Thank you, Sir.