New Delhi: With the Monsoon Session all but washed out in so far as debates go, the Trinamool Congress on Thursday said its lawmakers held the government accountable through its run by raising various questions, ranging from MGNREGA dues and bank frauds to unemployment and foreign investment.
TMC Rajya Sabha leader Derek O'Brien said the session was a "near-washout" as the Opposition's demand for a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah on the attacks on protesting students at Jantar Mantar and in Bihar was not accepted.
"Trinamool Congress and INDIA parties played the role of a responsible Opposition, holding the Union Government accountable through tough questions," O'Brien said.
According to data compiled by the TMC, its MPs asked more than 180 questions in both Houses during the session.
Several of the replies highlighted by the party put the spotlight on issues that have figured prominently in Opposition criticism of the government.
On MGNREGA, Kalyan Banerjee asked about pending liabilities and the government said dues up to 2025-26 had been cleared except in West Bengal, where Rs 1,457 crore towards the wage component remained pending.
A question by Sagarika Ghose on bank frauds brought out RBI data showing that the amount involved in frauds during the last five years aggregated to Rs 1.42 lakh crore, while recovery in accounts classified as fraud stood at only Rs 6,400 crore.
Mahua Moitra's question on rural unemployment elicited a government response that put the youth unemployment rate at 8.3 per cent, while Kirti Azad's question on foreign investment showed net FDI inflow had fallen to USD 1 billion, which the government attributed to higher repatriation and Indian outward investment, it said.
The TMC also drew attention to the government's response to Nadimul Haque on the impact of the 2019 corporate tax cuts. The government estimated the annual revenue impact of the tax reduction and related incentives at between Rs 75,000 crore and Rs 98,000 crore.
The party flagged another response on India's trade position.
Replying to Menaka Guruswamy, the government said the trade deficit as a percentage of total trade had increased from 4.5 per cent in 2023-24 to 5.4 per cent in 2024-25 and 6.4 per cent in 2025-26.
Questions by other TMC MPs also sought answers on E20 petrol, Chinese participation in power projects, farmer subsidies, manual cleaning of sewers and septic tanks, the Nirbhaya Fund, and the inclusion of Kurmi in the Eighth Schedule.
Abhishek Banerjee's question on E20 petrol sought details of complaints concerning mileage loss, fuel-system problems, engine damage, component replacement and warranty denial.
The government said it had received no widespread or substantiated complaints, even as it acknowledged concerns raised in the media and on social media.
Saugata Roy's question on Chinese participation in power projects revealed that seven companies had "substantial ownership by entities from land border sharing countries", comprising three in Gujarat, two in Andhra Pradesh, and one each in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.
O'Brien's own question on manual cleaning of sewers and septic tanks did not receive the number of persons engaged in the work. The government instead said nearly 90,000 sewer and septic tank workers had been "validated".
On the Nirbhaya Fund, Rajeev Kumar's question revealed that annual allocations had declined from Rs 1,355 crore in 2020-21 to Rs 278 crore in 2025-26.
Sajda Ahmed asked about farm subsidies, with the government saying there were no plans to cut them. To Samirul Islam's question on the inclusion of Kurmi in the Eighth Schedule, the government responded there was no fixed criterion for inclusion of any language.
Pratima Mondal sought details of the framework used by the government to reconcile competing geopolitical interests while maintaining strategic autonomy. The response, according to the TMC, reiterated strategic autonomy as a principle without detailing a specific reconciliation framework.
The TMC said the questions demonstrated that its MPs continued to scrutinise government policies and decisions despite the limited functioning of Parliament during the session.