'Who's the actual Pappu now?': Mahua Moitra slams Centre over economic progress

Calling the claims "falsehoods", she said every February, the government had people believe that the economy is doing great and everyone is getting all basic amenities like gas cylinders, housing, and electricity.

She added that eight months later, now in December, "the truth comes limping after it."

She said the government has said it needs Rs. 3.26 lakh crore in additional funds, over and above the budget estimate.

In a Lok Sabha debate on demands for additional grants for 2022-23, Moitra accused the Narendra Modi government of spreading "falsehood" about India's growth.

She appealed to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to take control of the economy, which, according to TMC MP, is going downhill.

Moitra started by quoting the author Jonathan Swift. "As the vilest writer has his readers, so the greatest liar has believers. And it often happens, that if a lie is believed only for an hour, it has done its work, and there is no further occasion for it. Falsehood flies and truth comes limping after it," she said.

She also slammed the Centre over its alleged coining of the term "Pappu".

"This government and the ruling party coined the term Pappu. You use it to denigrate and signify extreme incompetence. But the statistics tell us who the actual Pappu is," she said.

Referring to the latest data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO), Moitra claimed that while the country's industrial output shrunk by four per cent in October to a 26-month low, the manufacturing sector, which is "still the biggest generator of jobs", has contracted to 5.6 per cent.

She also took a swipe at the BJP over its defeat in the just-concluded Himachal Pradesh assembly elections, saying the ruling party's president could not hold on to his home state. "Who is the Pappu now?" she asked.

Mahua Moitra also pointed to the "exodus" of Indians, citing data on the rising number of people renouncing their Indian citizenship.