Tag: Lok Sabha

Ratna De Nag raises a question in LS regarding the mechanism of preventing banned drugs from being sold

Posted on | by admin2 | Leave a Comment on Ratna De Nag raises a question in LS regarding the mechanism of preventing banned drugs from being sold

Hon’ble minister has stated just now that in March, 2016 the Government issued a notification banning 344 fixed drug combinations which include some common cough mixture solutions, analgesics and antibiotics combinations which are sold over the counter. There is a need to keep strict and round-the-clock monitoring to ensure that these banned drugs do not reach the counter and human beings are put at risk.

I would like to know from the Hon’ble minister what type of coordination is in place with the State to ensure that Prohibition of Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, which imprisons a person selling or manufacturing of the banned drugs, is implemented in letter and spirit.
Thank you, Madam.

Sugata Bose speaks in Lok Sabha on The Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2016

Posted on | by admin2 | Leave a Comment on Sugata Bose speaks in Lok Sabha on The Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2016

Six new IITs will be set up at Tirupati, Palakkad, Dharwar, Bhilai, Goa and Jammu and the Indian School of Mines in Dhanbad which is just across the border of West Bengal in Jharkhand is going to be upgraded to an IIT. Just reciting the name of these places is a wonderful reminder of the diversity of our country. Whenever I rise to speak in this august House on the subject of education there is a general expectation that I will speak about quality, excellence and merit.

Today I would want this House to think carefully over the question, what is merit? I posed this question because I feel that in our country there is a great danger of passing of accumulated caste privilege as merit. If there are huge sections of our people who have suffered historic injustice then we should be very careful not to label them as people who lack merit. It is our fault that they have not got adequate opportunities to excel in our schools of higher education.

Now it is often forgotten that the IIT Act was of course passed in 1961. But reservations for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, 22.5 per cent, were not extended to the IITs until 1973. That was done under the Prime Ministership of Smt Indira Gandhi. And the OBC reservations were not extended until as late as 2006. I was reading an article by an anthropologist at Harvard University, named Ajanta Subramaniam, titled ‘Making Merit’, published in the Comparative Studies of Society and History, and I was startled to read some of the statistics that were given in that article about IIT, Madras.

Mr Deputy Speaker you know better than anyone else that our state of Tamil Nadu led ever since the great figure Annadurai showed us the way. The state of Tamil Nadu has empowered the backward class, schedule caste and scheduled tribes for decades.

But IIT Chennai is a Central institute, and as of 2015 (the numbers may have changed slightly since then), if we look at the figures for faculty members, there were 464 faculty members in the general category, 59 in the OBC category, only 11 in the scheduled castes category and a mere two in the scheduled tribes category.

These numbers cannot be explained by merit alone. These numbers can only be explained by conscious and subconscious bias against the disadvantaged sections of the people in our country. And that is why I said, please do not confuse accumulated past privilege as merit. Let us not have traditional cultural capital be transformed into modern capital in our institutes of technology, which are institutes of national importance.

Whenever the question of IIM comes up, we talk of autonomy. Now, of course, it is important to give autonomy to IIT directors, to chairpersons of governing boards of the IITs, and this Parliament must always preserve its prerogative which was under challenge by the HRD Ministry to declare institutes of national importance.

Now, the Hon’ble Human Resources Development Minister talks about accessibility as being one of his four mantras, and we have actually now given some accessibility in our IITs and our Central universities to scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. But the question is that have we given the feeling of equal citizenship inside the portals of our great institutions of higher learning? That is why, when students at IIT Chennai want to set up an Ambedkar and Periyar Study Circle, why should the Dean of Students, at the direction of the Central Government, derecognise such a study circle? Everyone should be reading the works of Dr Ambedkar and of Periyar. So that is why it is very important to go beyond the accessibility and give a sense of inclusiveness to Dalit students or Adivasi students or OBC students who are beginning to enter in large numbers into institutes such as the IITs.

In conclusion, let me elaborate a little bit on a point that I raised during Questions Hour this morning. For some time now, in this Parliament, in response to the Budget presented by this Government, I have been saying that we should not make a ritual of setting up five new IITs, five new IIMs every year; and I think the Finance Minister listened to that point when he announced that he was going to have 10 public and 10 private institutions that would be selected to become globally competitive.

I say this because we have to think very carefully about when we should set up new institutes and when we should strengthen our existing institutes. And I say this not because I feel that the brand name of the IITs will be diluted by setting up new IITs. I’m actually in favour of having at least one IIT in every State, and I hate importing the terminology of the world of commerce into the world of learning. I don’t like the word ‘brand’ which was even used by my friend Shashi Tharoor in which he wrote on the brand IIT, but I am more concerned that we should make sure that we have the human resources to staff the new institutes that we are setting up and that is why when we select those 20 institutions that will have a special enabling regulatory framework, I think, we should choose the most promising existing institutions, a few IITs or Indian Institutes of Science, a few central universities and a few state universities.

Finally, we have paid tribute to our tribute to our Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru under whose leadership the IITs were set up in the early 1960’s but I would like to mention today, one great scientist from Bengal whose vision lost out in the post-independence period. His name was Meghnad Saha; he was the scientist who was appointed to the National Planning Committee by none other than Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in 1938 and of this National Planning Committee he also made Jawaharlal Nehru, the Chairperson. But there was a debate between Dr Homi Bhabha on one hand and Meghnad Saha on the other in the immediate post-independence decade. Meghnad Saha was a member of this august House but Jawaharlal Nehru listened to Homi Bhabha so that scientific research especially the atomic energy research became secretive state-controlled enterprise. Meghnad Saha had suggested that even nuclear physics research should take place in our finest universities. These were the days before the IITs.

So, I would like to also suggest to the government that while building on the achievements of the past, they should also show a new direction of policy for the future so that the IITs which are a good teaching institutions also become the venues of cutting-edge research. Let us support the best central and state universities as also incubators of innovative research, if we do that we will be paying a genuine tribute to a figure like Meghnad Saha whose grand farsighted vision was not accepted the way it should have been in the early 1950s.

With these words I would like to thank you once again, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity to speak on the IIT (Amendment) Bill. These are occasions on which we can actually deliberate more broadly on education policy as a whole. Thank you very much.

Sugata Bose speaks in LS regarding an enabling regulatory architecture in higher education institutions (Full Transcript)

Posted on | by admin2 | Leave a Comment on Sugata Bose speaks in LS regarding an enabling regulatory architecture in higher education institutions (Full Transcript)

Thank you, Madam Speaker. It is sad to read the annexure that has been provided by the Hon’ble minister as part of his reply. There are no institutions of higher education in India that figure in the top 250 on the list and there are no universities that figure in the top 500 of the list that he has provided. It is a matter of only small satisfaction for me that the university that figures at the top as it war is Jadavpur University from West Bengal which is in the 500-600 range of the world rankings of the TIME’s higher education supplement.

Of course, it will not be right only to bemoan the fact that we don’t figure on this list. But we have to device a proper strategy to make sure that our institutions of higher educations are globally competitive.

I want to ask a very specific question. Five months ago in his budget speech the Finance Minister had declared that the government will set up an enabling regulatory architecture for the emergence of  ten public and ten private institutions as world class centers of excellence in teaching and research.

What specific progress has been made to set up such an enabling architecture and what criteria will the government use to select these 20 institutions? Will they pay attention to state universities which are poorly funded and yet do better than many central universities?

We have Jadavpur University & University of Calcutta in top 800 of the list you provided; they are state universities & not central universities. So, will you give special attention to state universities when you select these top 20 institutions for global competition?  

After participating in Parliamentary discussions, Trinamool MPs to visit Una, Gujarat

Posted on | by admin2 | Leave a Comment on After participating in Parliamentary discussions, Trinamool MPs to visit Una, Gujarat

A three-member Trinamool parliamentary delegation will visit Rajkot and Una on Saturday July 23.

After raising the issue in Parliament and participating in the debate, now it is time to further assess the situation on the ground and meet those affected. The delegation comprises Derek O’Brien (Parliamentary party leader in Rajya Sabha) and Lok Sabha MPs Dr Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and Ms Pratima Mandal.

Earlier in the week Mamata Banerjee had called the Una incident ‘organised crime’ and had said, “The incident in Una is organised crime against Dalits. I urge the Central government to treat Dalits with care and give full protection. This is unacceptable”.

 

Statement issued by Derek O’Brien, Chief National Spokesperson

তৃণমূল সাংসদরা যাচ্ছেন গুজরাতের উনা পরিদর্শনে

তৃণমূলের তিন সাংসদের প্রতিনিধি দল আগামী ২৩শে জুলাই (শনিবার) রাজকোট ও উনা পরিদর্শনে যাবেন।

সংসদে বিষয়টি নিয়ে বিস্তারিত আলোচনায় অংশগ্রহণ করার পর এবার তাঁরা পরিস্থিতি মূল্যায়নে গুজরাত যাবেন। প্রতিনিধিদলে থাকছেন ডেরেক ও ব্রায়েন (রাজ্যসভায় সংসদীয় দলের নেতা), লোকসভার সাংসদ ডঃ কাকলি ঘোষ দস্তিদার এবং প্রতিমা মণ্ডল।

গত সপ্তাহে মমতা বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায় বলেন, “উনার ঘটনা দলিতদের উপর সংগঠিত অপরাধ৷ এই পরিস্থিতি মেনে নেওয়া যায় না, কেন্দ্র দলিতদের নিরাপত্তার দিক। এই ধরনের ঘটনা সমর্থনযোগ্য নয়”।

 

তৃণমূলের জাতীয় মুখপাত্র ডেরেক ও ব্রায়েনের বিবৃতি

Sugata Bose speaks on the National Institute of Technology, Science Education and Research (Amendment) Bill, 2016

Posted on | by admin2 | Leave a Comment on Sugata Bose speaks on the National Institute of Technology, Science Education and Research (Amendment) Bill, 2016

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, may I at the outset express my appreciation to our new hon. Minister for Human Resource Development for felicitating all the teacher MPs on the occasion of ‘Guru Purnima’ a couple of days ago? That was a very fine symbolic gesture on his part and we on our part wish him all the best in discharging the onerous responsibility that he has been given to improve our educational system for our younger generation.

On the face of it, this is a very simple and straightforward amendment to the NIT Act.

It only adds one more NIT in Andhra Pradesh consequent on the bifurcation of the old State between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. But this apparently small amendment raises some very deep questions about our educational policy and the future direction of the younger generation in our country.

Some of the concerns that I had wished to express have already been anticipated by my colleague, Shri Shashi Tharoor, who, by virtue of belonging to a marginally larger party in this Lok Sabha, has the right to speak before me. I wish he had stayed to listen to at least the next speaker who had his views to express on this important subject.

I agree with many of the concerns about polity that had been expressed by my good friend, Shri Shashi Tharoor, but I think he made one very unfair comparison. Harvard University is a private university in the world and its endowment is larger than the GDP of many countries in this world. So, that comparison should not really be made.

Now what are these National Institutes of Technology, Science Education and Research? We started out with eight regional engineering colleges and now, we have many more but the 20 of them are upgradations from the status of regional engineering colleges. Subsequently, 10 more NITs have been added and today, we are about to welcome in this Parliament the birth of a new NIT in Andhra Pradesh. We will, of course, support that move and we wish the people of Andhra Pradesh all the best for the future. I would, however, like to raise some questions about the kind of education that we wish to give to our younger generation. Shri Javadekar was absolutely right in saying that even in the nomenclature of these institutes, we have the word ‘technology’ but also the phrases ‘science education and research’.

Now we have to have a fine balance between teaching and research in all of our educational institutes including our universities both central and State in addition to the IITs, the NITs and the IISERs. Unfortunately, the NIT in Andhra Pradesh and also some of the new NITs that have been approved by this Parliament do not have capacity for carrying out the kind of cutting edge research and innovation that we need in this country.

When we go ahead and announce the establishment of new institutions, first of all, it takes a lot of time to build a new campus. Even this NIT is currently functioning out of a temporary campus but at least when it comes to physical infrastructure, when it comes to bricks and mortar, for a number of years after the announcement of these new institutes, money is spent and many contractors make money but do we give adequate attention to human resources? Do we actually anticipate the faculty requirements for these new institutes? Do we actually make sure that the students who will join these new institutes will, in fact, get the best instruction possible? I think we need to pay very close attention to these issues.

I would also like to add that we have a large number of institutes of national importance which are devoted to technology of one kind or another.

The IITs, the NITs and also the Institutes of Information Technology run into scores in terms of the numbers of Institutes of Technology of one kind or another that we have. But do we pay adequate attention to institutes for the Humanities and the Arts? What is happening in our Institutes of Technology, particularly the NITs is that we are not producing well-rounded citizens. Even in Institutes of Technology there should be arrangements to teach subjects in the field of Arts and Humanities. If you consider the best Institute of Technology in the world today, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has a very fine Philosophy Department. It has a superb History Department. They are small but the students who are training to be engineers are given an opportunity to also study the Arts and the Humanities. Otherwise, in this craze for Information Technology in particular, we will be creating very one dimensional young citizens of India.

Now, a couple of years ago Shri Anil Madhav Dave had asked a very pertinent question from the Ministry of Human Resource Development. He had asked whether the condition of learning in the subjects of Humanities and Arts is poor and he had also asked whether the Government is making any action plan for new institutes and incentives in the field of Arts, Commerce, Culture and Humanities. I am sorry to have to say that in the written reply that was provided by the Ministry of Human Resource Development there were very misleading statements. I will you why. It was stated that up to 20/11 there were 4677 institutions only for science and technology and there were 4315 institutions offering courses only on Arts and Humanities in that same year. But that was not the question. The question was how many institutes of national importance we have in the field of humanities compared to the number of institutes of national importance in the field of science and technology. Two years ago, in his Budget Speech, Shri Arun Jaitley had announced that there was going to be a national institute of Humanities named after none other than our great iconic leader the late Jaiprakash Narain in Madhya Pradesh. But this Parliament and the general public in India have not heard very much more since then about the progress in the creation of this one national institute for the Humanities that had been announced by this Government more than two years ago. Even if we are not able to set up very many national institutes of importance in the field of Humanities and Arts, there are other ways in which Humanities and Arts can be supported in our universities and colleges. For example, in the United States of America there is a National Endowment for the Humanities and National Endowment for the Arts which provide funding for the finest research and new innovation and creativity in the field of Humanities and Arts. So, there are ways in which we can provide a more balanced education for our younger generation.

Sir, there are a few more things to be said about our Educational Policy, but today as you can see we are rather diminished in terms of the benches on this side of the House because in West Bengal today we are observing Martyrs Day. Twenty-three years ago 13 young men had been killed in police firing while our leader Ms. Mamata Banerjee led demonstration for the restoration of democratic rights for the people of West Bengal. I will have an opportunity to speak once more when the Indian Institute of Technology (Amendment) Bill is brought before us.

I will not extend my discourse any further at the moment excepting to say that when this Parliament which has the sole prerogative to assign the nomenclature institutes of national importance takes this momentous decision, let us make sure that these institutes are truly of national importance. Let us set ourselves a goal that in the foreseeable future, say, within the next three to five years, at least a few of our National Institutes of Technology, Science Education and Research will be able to break into the top 500 of world rankings because we should not be satisfied with rankings within our own country. We have a global role to play. We must compete with the rest of the world and make sure that our students and younger generation are getting the best education possible whether in the field of science education or in the field of arts and humanities.

Thank you very much, Mr. Deputy-Speaker Sir.

Trinamool raises the issue of crimes against Dalits in RS

Posted on | by admin2 | Leave a Comment on Trinamool raises the issue of crimes against Dalits in RS

On the third day of the Monsoon Session of Parliament, Trinamool raised the issue of recent crimes against Dalits in Una.

Speaking on behalf of Trinamool, leader of the party in Rajya Sabha, Derek O’Brien said: “This is organised crime against Dalits. We must suspend all business and take up a discussion on the issue.”

Following Trinamool’s lead, other political parties including the BSP also demanded a discussion on the crimes against Dalits, leading to adjournment of the House.

In the afternoon, condemning the language used against BSP’s Mayawati, Derek O’Brien said: “My sentiments are with the whole House. I would say this is not a women’s issue but men’s issue. The problem is with men making such comments. Thanks to technology we could raise this issue today. Someone from the treasury benches must stand up and condemn the language used against a woman member of the House.”

Earlier in the day, West Bengal Chief Minister had also expressed her concern about the ‘organised crimes’ against Dalits:

Trinamool dominates Parliament on Day 2 of Monsoon Session

Posted on | by admin2 | Leave a Comment on Trinamool dominates Parliament on Day 2 of Monsoon Session

Trinamool dominated the Parliamentary proceedings on the second day of Monsoon Session in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

Playing a responsible Opposition, Trinamool MPs spoke on matters of national importance and took part in debates on important Bills.

The day started with the leader of the party in Rajya Sabha, Derek O’Brien raising the issue of the site of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam’s resting place lying in utter neglect and slow progress of the work of building a memorial for the late President of India.

In Lok Sabha, leader of the party Sudip Bandyopadhyay demanded answers from the government on low conviction rate in case of cyber crimes. During Question Hour in Rajya Sabha, Nadimul Haque asked the government about its plans to tackle the menace of spitting.

During a Calling Attention Motion in the Upper House of the Parliament, MP Ahmed Hassan Imran grilled the government on its flood management programmes and demanded that the compensation criteria for States be revisited.

Vivek Gupta participated on behalf of the party in a discussion on the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2012 in Rajya Sabha while Dr Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and Dr Ratna De Nag participated in discussions on The Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill, 2016 and The Dentists (Amendment) Bill, 2016 respectively in Lok Sabha.

 

Sudip Bandyopadhyay speaks on cyber security during Question Hour in LS

Posted on | by admin2 | Leave a Comment on Sudip Bandyopadhyay speaks on cyber security during Question Hour in LS

Cyber security is a very sensitive issue. But the rate of conviction is very low. I will go through the paper circulated by the Minister. Let me give you the details of cases charge sheeted, cases convicted and persons arrested.

In 2013, 9,322 cases were registered. But the conviction was zero. In 2014, cases registered and persons arrested were 5643 and conviction was 65 only. In 2015, 8044 persons were arrested, and conviction was only 224.

So, what this data reflects is that in case of cyber crimes, persons have been arrested, they are being prosecuted but somewhere there are some deficiencies because of which they have not been convicted. The government should take the initiative through major steps by which those who are genuinely arrested and prosecuted are also convicted at the earliest possible time. The government should make an all over investigation regarding the whole process.

Government mishandled J&K: Trinamool’s Derek in RS

Posted on | by aitc | Leave a Comment on Government mishandled J&K: Trinamool’s Derek in RS

Celebrate democracy. Deliberate democracy

On the floor of this house we get a chance to both celebrate democracy and sometimes deliberate democracy. Two months ago, we had a famous win in Bengal, and that was a great chance to celebrate democracy. Incidents in J&K over the last two weeks bring us here today to deliberate democracy.

Mishandled the situation in J&K

Sir, first let me tell you what I and my party have been thinking after studying the situation these past two weeks. We can use many expressions – bungled the situation, mishandled the situation, or mismanaged the situation. But I think the most appropriate expression we want to use is the Union Government mishandled the situation and they have to realise that they mishandled the situation. Because ordinary have lost their lives; not all of them, but ordinary people have, which is sad. We must extend help to all these families belonging to these ordinary citizens. There was an incident about a class X student, which I read in the Indian Express. It could have been any one of our sons and daughters.

Digital India, not Divisive India

Sir the irony of this is how our people there are expressing themselves. The Home Minister is here Sir. They are expressing themselves through the social media; and who are the champions of the social media? Those people who came to power riding the social media in 2014. Now what are they using the social media for? To wish each other happy birthday – one minister is wishing the other minister happy birthday. Wish each other happy birthday, we don’t mind, if it’s a happy occasion. But if you want a Digital India then make sure you understand the Digital medium otherwise Digital India can very well become a Divisive India. And no preachers there. From whatever we have read, this is all being done on the internet. So my appeal to the Home Minister through you, Sir, is, understand the power of these media. Young people are on these media. You have to harness the power of the media correctly and not only for PR.

The Jangalmahal model of development and healing for J&K

Sir, my second point: security arrangements and hard policing, Yes, very good. Please continue with security arrangements and hard policing if you want. But along with that there needs to be a political process. There needs to be a dialogue. It is disappointing when the Leader of the House here stands up and talks to us about numbers; that he was put in that position. I don’t care whether you are put in the position or you want to be put in the position. Now you please handle the situation as we expect you to handle the situation – so political process and dialogue, along with security arrangements and hard policing must go together.

If I could give an example from admittedly a very different situation, in Jangalmahal, West Bengal, where our government inherited a Maoist insurgency but also poor developmental conditions and genuine political grievances. Through you, I want to ask the Home Minister to you look at Jangalmahal. We used tough policing measures, without compromise, but also showed the sagacity to usher in an honest political and developmental conversation. Today, Jangalmahal is healing appreciably.

It’s not only about Soil, it’s about Soul

What is this situation in Kashmir about? Land? Soil? No, it is about the people of Kashmir. It is not about the soil, it is about the soul of Kashmir. That’s what we have to focus on – the soul, and bring these people together and make them feel that they are part of us. Kashmiris have a stake in India and Indians have a stake in Kashmiris. There can be no other way. When you see a Kashmiri boy or girl working in Goa in a call centre or working in Bengaluru or in Kolkata, you feel a little extra special. We don’t ask them, are you from Kashmir, or are you not from Kashmir. So it’s about the soul. And I urge this Government, along with the hard policing, the strict measures, to please keep that soul of Kashmir in mind.

Sir, Atal Bihari Vajpayee said, “We will talk within the framework of insaniyat (humanity and humaneness).” Sir, I would urge this Government to begin the dialogue process with our own people, our young people. Please, it is very important for the Government to accept that they have mismanaged the situation. Please don’t shy away from this. And yes, everyone has been magnanimous to get behind you this time. Accept that Sir.

UN Secretary General statement wipes out PMs frequent flyer miles

All the Prime Minister’s frequent flyer miles, accumulated during the last two years, and that’s a lot of frequent flyer miles, all got washed out by one statement on the 11th of July by the United Nations Secretary General. This is what he said: he called on all parties to “exercise maximum restraint to avoid the violence and I hope that all concerns would be addressed through peaceful means.” This is a very telling statement.

I want to end with the issue of pellets. Sir, it makes for a sad story that in this day of technology, when it is common knowledge that the same kind of pellets were used in Tunisia in 2010 or in 2014 in Egypt, and got heavily criticized by the international community, here again they go and use the same pellets.

Yes Sir, it is not only the land, not only the soil, not only the grass, it is about the soul of Kashmir. I urge this Government to protect that soul. Kashmir’s soul, India’s soul

Thank You Sir.

We will play the role of a responsible Opposition: Sudip Bandopadhyay

Posted on | by aitc | Leave a Comment on We will play the role of a responsible Opposition: Sudip Bandopadhyay

Trinamool Congress members of Parliament (MP) today staged a demonstration in front of the entrance to the Parliament building against the issue of rising prices of edible commodities all over the country.

The party also gave notice to discuss the issue in Parliament.

Later, speaking to the press on the issue, MP and Leader of the Party in Lok Sabha, Sudip Bandopadhyay said,”All over the country, there is no control over the rising prices,” adding that “during this Monsoon Session, Trinamool Congress would play the role of a responsible Opposition in Parliament.”

 

তৃণমূল কংগ্রেস প্রকৃত বিরোধী দলের ভূমিকা পালন করবেঃ সুদীপ বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায়

আজ বাদল অধিবেশনের শুরুর দিনই সংসদ ভবনের বাইরে ধরনায় বসেন তৃণমূল সাংসদরা। মূল্যবৃদ্ধি সহ একাধিক ইস্যুতে সরব হয় তৃণমূল কংগ্রেস। অধিবেশন শুরুর আগে সংসদ ভবনের বাইরে প্ল্যাকার্ড হাতে স্লোগান দেন তৃণমূল সাংসদরা।

লোকসভার মুখ্য সচেতক সুদীপ বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায় জানান, “সারা দেশে মূল্যবৃদ্ধির ওপর কোন লাগাম নেই। চলতি অধিবেশনে তৃণমূল কংগ্রেস যোগ্য ও প্রকৃত বিরোধী দলের ভূমিকা পালন করবে”।

মূল্যবৃদ্ধি থেকে বেকারত্ব ও এফ ডি আই সব ইস্যুতেই মোদী সরকারকে চাপে ফেলতে মরিয়া তৃণমূল।  মূল্যবৃদ্ধি নিয়ে আলোচনার দাবিতে ইতিমধ্যেই তাঁরা সংসদে নোটিস দিয়েছেন।