NMP a 'ploy to sell India', Oppn raised alarm over it a year back in Parl: TMC

KOLKATA: Dubbing the Centre's National Monetization Pipeline as a scheme to 'sell India', Trinamool Congress (TMC) Rajya Sabha MP Derek O' Brien on Sunday said a year and a half ago, the Opposition MPs had raised the issue on the floor of the Parliament but were apparently not given any importance.

" WHERE # Parliament WHAT Raised alarm about BJP Govt's new Sell India campaign to strip nation's assets. WHEN A year and a half ago, 16 March 2020 WHO Responsible opposition doing our job to stop Becho India," the TMC MP tweeted.

It was O' Brien, who had raised the issue on March 16, 2020 and criticised the Centre for its policy to sell the country's public properties. Trinamool Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee had severely criticised the demonetisation policy of the BJP during her virtual address at the Trinamool Chhatra Parishad (TMCP) foundation day on Saturday. 

She had sarcastically said: "One day, the BJP will ask the people to sell their body organs like their eyes." "From SAIL to Rail, the Centre is planning to sell the public properties in India," he added.

Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, Trinamool Congress MP, had earlier said that the Centre was going to give "perpetual lease to the assets" and the lease would be renewed every 25 years. He had raised the question as to how a government whose tenure would come to an end in 2024 could decide to lease out the public properties in four phases. In the Hills, people have already started a movement against the selling of toy trains to private players.

Taking a dig at the Centre for harassing the opposition using the agencies, O'Brien also alleged that the Union home minister had drawn up a plan for remitting all cases through the Enforcement Directorate.

O'Brien's comments on the Centre came a day after the ED summoned TMC's Diamond Harbour MP and national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee and his wife for questioning in a money laundering case linked to an alleged coal scam.

"A sparrow in Delhi tells me that new CBI chief may have directed a few top officials not to act too brazenly. Harassing the opposition only benefits one party. So HeMan (HM) has a new plan," he stated.