February 5, 2026
Dola Sen’s speech during the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address
Thank you, Deputy Chairman Sir, for giving me the chance to speak on the Motion of Thanks on hon. President’s Address, and thanks to our party, All India Trinamool Congress, and our respected leader, hon. Mamata Banerjee, for giving me this opportunity to speak on this Motion of Thanks. Sir, will speak in my mother tongue, Bengali. Sir, our country is a democratic country. Our country is a country of many voices, the world’s largest democracy, a country of unity in diversity. Today, the time has come to understand where the Government of our country stands in that democracy. Where did the belief and tradition of unity in diversity go? Why are we losing the ideal of secularism? Why are we abandoning our country’s tradition, human welfare, and the path of walking with everyone? Why is West Bengal being opposed so much in recent times? Bengal has always been independent-minded. Why is the old politics of the era of ‘royal Conquest’, which is obsolete today being brought back? The Union Government is a union of states, a Union of States as per our Constitution. In that case, why is the role of Kaikeyi being taken for West Bengal? Why this step-motherly attitude? We do not understand what is there to be so afraid of Bengal. Bengal takes everyone along. Why is the parliamentary system recently completely dependent on two or three people? Why is the right of minorities, which is the basis of democracy, being destroyed? I would say there is still a lot to learn from Bengal, just as Bengal has to learn from other States. If there is no mutual respect, a reign of slavery is created. Are we living in slavery? Why is the policy of this Government anti-Bengal? and exaggerating is becoming a habit of the Union Government. Even standing in the Parliament, are being told. As a result, the Government is being criticized at home and abroad. Can’t we see all that? Is this the sign of the mother of democracy? Actually, this Government is a Government of corporates. Even after being elected by the people, this Government is a Government of corporates. They do not see and do not want to see the public interest. Poor people are becoming poorer, and corporates are flourishing. ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ is talked about repeatedly. However, we see that the President of America has said many times that the ceasefire has occurred because of his words. Again, the US tariff was reduced to 18%, on the condition of buying oil from Venezuela, and on the condition of not keeping relations with Russia, etc. None of these are signs of self-reliance. Yet, millions of our freedom fighters have sacrificed their lives for the country’s independence, with their heads held high and chests out, on the gallows or in the bullets of the British police, with a smile on their face for the country’s independence and for the country’s self-reliance. Is this its continuation? No, not at all. * This is never self-reliance. That is why when a small country like Cambodia also does not accept the insult of irregular immigrants, India cannot say anything to America. It is afraid. It accepts with its head bowed, the binding of the hands and feet of the immigrants here and dropping them in this country by plane. I condemn this harassment, this humiliation. Hon. President has said the country is moving on the path of development. We hear about developed India repeatedly. But there is a huge gap between what we hear in speeches and what we see in reality. There is hell and heaven difference between the objective reality and subjective thinking. From rail to BHEL, from SAIL to BSNL, everything is in the hands of corporates. All the land of the Port Trust, jetties, even hospitals are being given to private hands. We are moving towards 100% FDI for coal, which is our national asset. LIC, where ordinary people of our country save small amounts of money, was first tried to save the sick IDBI with that LIC. IDBI could not be saved, and LIC also became sick. Now again, 100% FDI, direct foreign investment in LIC. Where is selfreliance? Where is development? Yet, in the previous era, coal, banks, and insurance were nationalized. So, they supposedly did not do any work. And now all nationalized coal, banks, and insurance are being denationalized. So, we are very good-this is the claim of the Treasury Bench. We are moving forward, Sir! General Insurance has also been made sick to establish PM Jan Dhan Yojana. Steel Authority of India Limited, Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Bharat Heavy Electricals, etc., etc., disinvestment, corporatization, privatization in everything. Not only that, even factories in key sectors like Defence have 74% corporatization. The weapons made in the arms and ammunition factories, with which our jawans protect our country and countrymen by risking their lives, they will now have to do duty in difficult places with weapons made by private hands, sold in the market like potatoes and radishes. We are moving forward, Sir! Just a few days ago, the air service of the country was disrupted for about five-seven days. The weddings of many people were cancelled, job exams were cancelled, jobs were lost, and the reason for that is also this privatization policy. Because 66% of air services are Indigo, 25% Air India, which is now owned by Tata, and almost all airports are in the hands of Adani. So, the Union Government had nothing to do with such a big disaster! We are moving forward, Sir! We are sitting as puppets in the hands of private and foreign masters, and so is our Government. This, whatever else it may be, is not a sign of self-reliance or a “Developed India.” BSNL, MTNL phone connections are given to us MPs. I don’t know if it works for you, it doesn’t work for me. Yet, the infrastructure and towers of Government BSNL are being used mainly by Reliance. And BSNL is closing down. We are moving forward, Sir! They have left out the workers, the contract workers are completely excluded, they are not even human. There is no provision of labour law in the GEM portal either. The condition of permanent workers is also very bad, they are also affected. Even after retirement, the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) is closed, and now in the name of NPS, UPS, retirement benefits are also affected. Moreover, the PF money is also in the open market, the share market, which is completely illegal. We are moving forward, Sir! Sir, in the agricultural sector, in a country of 150 crore people, there is a very big market. So, there is a boom of pesticides, chemicals, and fertilizers of multinationals. Farmers do not even have a Minimum Support Price (MSP). If farming with these pesticides and chemical fertilizers harms the citizens and cancer increases in every household, it still creates a huge market for multinationals. Expensive medicines will come, just like the Corona vaccine came. What a tragic consequence of selfreliance and “Developed India”! We are moving forward Sir! That is why the labour code is actually a corporate code. For this Union Government, corporate is heaven, corporate is religion, corporate is the highest end! That’s why small Bangladesh defeats us in jute, small Sri Lanka defeats us in the tea industry. Even Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan moves forward. Darjeeling tea with GI tag is affected because no duty is required on imports from Nepal here. And if something is exported from here to Nepal, a 40% duty is required. So low-quality tea from Nepal, with the tag of Darjeeling tea, without following any criteria of the GI tag, is entering the market of this country illegally. Similarly, jute is coming illegally from Bangladesh with a tag. There is no level playing field in export-import. So, the tea industry and jute industry are affected. We are moving forward, Sir. When Mr. Trump increased the US tariff by almost 50%, when the price of one dollar is more than 90 rupees, when the price of crude oil and natural gas is decreasing internationally but only increasing in this country -the price of petrol, diesel, and cooking gas – though it comes down a bit less if there is an election – then the people of the country can understand very well what a self-reliant country, what a developed India they live in! We are moving forward, Sir! Above all, textile, cotton, jute, tea, coffee, when in an agrarian country like ours, as an agro-based industry, we not only lose to small neighbouring countries but all the cotton mills of the Union Government in our own country, NTC, etc., jute mills, NJMC, etc., Central Government tea gardens, etc., all have been closed for the last 12 years. We cannot move forward in export competition, nor have we maintained our own domestic industries; we have lost everything and are sitting with closed doors. We are moving forward, Sir! Yet cotton dress material is good for the health of the body in our hot country. And thinking about the health of the people of the country, the late Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi ji, had made the Mandatory Food Packaging Material Act in 1987, so that 100% food grains and sugar are packaged in jute bags. But the current Government has brought down jute packaging of sugar to below 20% and food packaging of other food grains to below 70%. This is so that packaging food in plastic increases the illnesses of the citizens and more medicines enter the market. And alongside, in an agrarian country, where we were self-sufficient in both agriculture and industry, in that textile, cotton, jute, tea, coffee, we are finished. All our agricultural industries are destroyed. I condemn this jumla of self-reliance and developed India, and telling false stories. We are moving forward, Sir! * That means 24 crore in 12 years! Leave crores, it is doubtful whether 24 lakh, 24 thousand, or even 24 hundred people have got jobs. And 24% of sanctioned posts are vacant, where there is no recruitment. We are moving forward, Sir! The water, forest, land, soil, air, and sky of the country are also in danger. Between 2019 and 2024, our country lost 1.03 lakh hectares of humid primary forest. From Aravalli hills to Nicobar Islands, everything is sold. We are in such a mercantile rule that no national asset is ours anymore. Everything is sold and finished. According to the 2025 report of the Central Ground Water Board, the situation of our underground water is also very bad. We are moving forward, Sir! Alongside, by removing biodegradable, eco-friendly, environment-friendly natural fibre, we are only allowing the enemies of the environment like plastic to grow. Now we will consume plastic particles in food, water, and air in our bodies. We are moving forward, Sir! Hon. President has talked about social justice. But in reality, in our State of Bengal, only in the MGNREGA sector, 52,000 crore rupees are due. Altogether, the Union Government has kept 2 lakh crore rupees due since 2021 illegally, which is the rightful and due money of the State Government of West Bengal, which they have taken from our State, the proportional portion. This is out of anger because they lost in Bengal. Whatever else this is, Sir, it is not social justice. The people of the country know, all their lives they have been victims of discrimination. Only one day in five years, on the day of voting, their rights are equal because the right to vote is the same for everyone. Now, in the name of SIR, there is a desperate attempt to snatch that right to vote too. SIR can happen. But in a state of a population of 11 crores, where the work should take two years, it is being done in two months, so that the names of 1 crore or 2 crore people can be excluded in a hurry, and they can win in Bengal by any means. On the other hand, from 2021 to 2026, the census is not being done. The census is also closed, which happens every 10 years. So, that wrong propaganda can be made on the question of religion and caste division unnecessarily. Before this, we saw that by suddenly doing demonetization, we lost 125 people of our country in a span of three months. Although the then Finance Minister and the then Governor of the Reserve Bank himself informed that not a single rupee of black money was recovered. Now again, by suddenly doing “Votebandi” (vote-ban) in a hurry, already about 150 people have died in Bengal within two months. Their families have now come to Delhi to seek justice from the Supreme Court. Although the name of a single infiltrator, Bangladeshi or Rohingya, was not found. We believe in this way they will not only not win in Bengal, Bengal is something else. Bengal is not afraid. Bengal does not bow its head. So, capturing Bengal is not so easy. Even by beating, by starving, by humiliating, by insulting, you will not get success, you will fail. You will lose and lose. And we also know that the truth of man is above all, there is nothing above that. So, the history of the world has proven repeatedly that slander, propaganda, conspiracy, untruth, and injustice never tell the last word. The last word is told by truth, justice, and man. So as the people and the leader of the people are repeatedly having the last word in Bengal, similarly, We the People of India will tell the last word in our country too. I feel proud to say and think that you have all seen a Chief Minister, a woman Chief Minister, a Bengali Chief Minister, how for the first time in the whole country, for the rights of the people—My Country, My Vote, My Vote, My Right—she stood by the people in the Supreme Court as a true leader of the people, a leader of the people. No matter how much you insult her, abuse her, laugh, make people laugh, say bad things, what you do not understand is that, she respects and loves the people from her heart. So, her place is in the hearts of the people. Your crass words do not have the power to remove her from the hearts of the people. You are responsible. Therefore, in protest of this, we want to walk out on behalf of the All India Trinamool Congress. Jai Hind! Vande Mataram! Jai Bangla! Jai Ma-Mati-Manush!
