Name calling session in the Lok Sabha: Nirmala Or Nirbala?

It was name-calling day on the floor of Parliament on Monday. A day after corporate legend Rahul Bajaj boldly spoke out against the ‘atmosphere of fear’ prevailing in the country in which captains of industry are too frightened to criticise the Modi-Shah regime, it seems tongues have been loosened and politicians are no longer afraid to exchange creative epithets.

It isn’t a one-way street either. Nirmala Sitharaman was called ‘Nirbala Sitharaman”.  Adhir Ranjan Chowdhry was called an ‘infiltrator’ (presumably from Bangladesh?).  The Congress leader retorted by calling himself a ‘deemak’ and labeling Modi, Shah and Advani as the ‘biggest infiltrators’ (from Gujarat to Delhi?).

It is not easy to pinpoint when and how it all began, but here are a few of the colourful exchanges in the Lok Sabha:

The most talked-about comment of the day came from Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. Taking a swipe at Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, he said:  "Even though I respect you, at times I think you should be called 'Nirbala' instead of Nirmala as you may not be able to assert yourself much on policies of the government despite being a Cabinet minister".

Adhir Ranjan alleged that the Finance Minister lacked long-term “vision, mission and perspective”. He said: “Therefore, she always resorts to knee-jerk, panic measures to improve the weakening economy. The credibility of the government is being affected”.

The Congress leader also had a word of advice:  "We should not be ashamed of learning something from somebody who knows the subject. Please talk to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and discuss the matter with him. If you want to save the country, you will have to talk to Dr. Manmohan Singh".

Rushing to defend his senior Minister, Anurag Singh Thakur, the MoS, Finance, demanded an apology from Adhir Ranjan for calling Nirmala Sitharaman as "Nirbala".  He said it was an insult to the capabilities of women.

In her own response, Nirmala Sitharaman said: “I am Nirmala, and every woman in my party is Sabala (powerful)”.

She denied the Modi government was not ready to listen to nor respond to criticism.  “We are a proactive government”.

She added: “I have met many people, many have said I am the worst Finance Minister, even before I have completed six months of work, I hear them out. I am willing to hear more”.

Earlier, during Question Hour, when Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury rose to ask a supplementary question related to the steel ministry, some ruling alliance members tried to mock him by shouting the word "infiltrator" several times.

The Congress leader immediately countered by saying: "Yes, I am an infiltrator. I am a 'dheemak' (termite).  Narendra Modi is an infiltrator. Amit Shah is an infiltrator. L K Advani is an infiltrator".

BJP’s Dharmendra Pradhan was incensed at his leaders being described as infiltrators.  He threatened that Adhir Ranjan’s would soon be exposed - "Sab khul jayega. Aap ki paribhasha se desh nahi chalega”.

Another Opposition member Asaduddin Owaisi (AIMIM) also provoked the Treasury benches with a direct accusation:  "I am charging this government by saying that this government is obsessed with corporates. They hate the common people".

Owaisi’s point was that for social equity,  and to reduce the rich-poor gap,  tax revenues needed to be increased but because of government’s policies tax collections were actually falling.  Core-sector production in September has gone into negative zones.  The price of onions was soaring to unimaginable heights.  Retail inflation was rising.  The auto industry was struggling.  "All these are empirical signs clearly showing that the country is in recession. But instead of solving the problem, , the government is in denial mode”.

Also critciisng the corporate tax Bill, Kerala Congress member Thomas Chazhikadan said a close look at the provisions of the Bill shows that no attempt has been made to address the actual problems. “Even though it appears on the surface to have a constructive approach towards corporate tax issues, upon deeper analysis it is found that the Bill is only serving old wine in a new bottle”.

Benny Behanan of the Congress alleged that when it comes to corporate sector, the government seems to have unlimited funds to dole out huge sums of money, but when it comes to extending a helping hand to farmers, small business enterprises and unemployed youth, the government claims it is cash-strapped.

Dayanidhi Maran of the DMK said it was strange that only the Adanis and the Ambanis are making money, whereas other companies and the other economic players in India are gasping for survival.

There were also heated exchanges durig the discussion on e-cigarettes.  K.K. Ragesh of CPI(M) moved a Statutory Resolution opposing the Ordinance that had been issued.  He said:  "I am not against banning e-cigarettes.  But we do not live in an Ordinance-Raj. We live in a Democracy.  This House has time and again flagged this government’s habit of promulgating too many Ordinances".

Dr. D.P. Vats, BJP, however said if cigarettes are the "bad terrorists", e-cigarettes are the "good terrorists". It has to be ensured that cigarette-smokers do not convert into e-cigarette smokers.

Digvijaya Singh of the Congress wanted to know what “special reason” the government has for rushing to ban e-cigarettes even though consumption of much more hazardous products like cigarettes and gutkha continue unabated.

In his reply, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, the Union Health Minister said: “I was the first one to bring in anti-tobacco legislation.  But it becomes very difficult to have an effective ban in a country as vast as India, when a particular product has a very wide consumer base and great social acceptance.  You should not always be suspicious of our intentions, without understanding the challenges”.

Fresh from her party’s success in Maharashtra, Supriya Sule of the NCP said while she supports the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, she had did have some doubts and suspicions.  She asked Nirmala Sitharaman to answer truthfully whether and to what extent direct tax collection has fallen.  Why is the government relying on ad hoc solutions and why there was no holistic approach towards tax reforms throughout the country?  Also, how does the government intend to handle the skyrocketing prices of essential items?

Sule asserted that the biggest push should be given to the rural economy, which is absolutely in the doldrums.  Why was this not being done?  Turning to the corporate sector, she chided Sitharaman for reacting negatively to Rahul Bajaj's remarks on the culture of governance.

Sule referred to newspaper reports that the Finance Minister had lambasted the veteran industrialist by saying his statement were against the national interests.  She endorsed the suggested that Sitharaman should consult knowledgeable people like Dr. Manmohan Singh and also former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, who she described as one of the sane voices regarding how to resurrect the Indian economy.

Gaurav Gogoi of Congress said Rahul Baja was right – the Modi-Shah regime does not tolerate any form of criticism.  He said the government hides facts,  suppressing actual figures and is unwilling to look at the ground reality.

Gogoi said when the auto industry is affected, the government blames the millennials.  They do not come out with actual unemployment data and they do not reveal off-book borrowings.  Even now they do not want to admit what done because of demonetization and badly-implemented GST.  He said just like GST was a complicated corporate tax reform that should have been introduced only with great care and sophistication, the present Taxation Laws Amendment Bill, too requires finesse during implementation because it seeks to brings in a multi-layered changes in the corporate tax structure.

BJP’s Nishikant Dubey, however, did not agree with all the negativism of the Opposition.  According to him, GDP should not be treated like the Bible.  It is not sacred like the Ramayana and Mahabharata.  Before 1934 thre was no such thing as GDP and yet the country was doing fine.  In his view, the practice of calculating GDP should end.  There may not be much use of the GDP in the future, he said.

Elaborating on his thesis,  Nishikant Dubey said:  "Today's theory is whether sustainable economic welfare is reaching the common man or not.  But Happiness Index and Sustainable Development are far more important than GDP”.

DMK’s Andimuthu Raja debunked such an approach.  The ruling party is not willing to acknowledge economic slowdown. “This is evident from the speeches of my fellow parliamentarians. They are not ready to accept that demonetization was wrong, that implementing GST in such haste was wrong”.

Mahua Moitra of Trinamool also blamed wrong policies like demonetization and the hurried implementation of GST.  She said that the two moves of the Narendra Modi government had spelt a death knell for the Indian economy.

Moitra  said the new taxation Bill will only help the profitable companies to become more profitable. She accused the government of deliberately withholding the Direct Tax Code report from the House.  Businesses are struggling because of insane compliance and harassment, she said.  Existing companies cannot utilise these schemes.  Are you interested in only the illusion of a sop or are you interested in really giving a sop?

She alleged that "This government wants to treat foreigners better than Indians. That is why FIIs are exempted from paying the corporate taxes.  If this bill was really to help everybody, especially MSME sector, then the tax rate reduction should apply to all entities. It should not apply to just the companies, it should apply to LLPs, partnership firms and other non-corporate entities also," she said.