Trinamul MP Mahua Moitra’s searching question in Parliament on “who’s the Pappu now” appeared to have touched a raw nerve with the Narendra Modi government, with finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday saying “she will find Pappu in West Bengal”.

“Honourable member Mahua Moitra said about where one should find Pappu. Who’s the Pappu, where’s the Pappu and so on…. Actually, if only the honourable member looks back into her own backyard, she will find Pappu in West Bengal,” Nirmala said in the Lok Sabha while referring to post-Assembly election in Bengal last year.

Replying to the debate over the supplementary demands for grants, she added: “So there’s no doubt (over where Pappu can be found).” She went on to accuse the Bengal government of sitting on “wonderful schemes” that could benefit the people.

On Tuesday, Mahua had turned the question “who’s the Pappu now?” into a refrain in the Lok Sabha while highlighting the fall in industrial output, the Enforcement Directorate’s dismal conviction rate and the failure of demonetisation to achieve its targets, turning on its head a propaganda tool that the Modi government uses to the hilt to tarnish its political opponents.

Hitting back on Wednesday, Nirmala swiftly switched to another question that Mahua had asked at the fag end of her speech — “I urge this government and the Honourable finance minister to take control of the economy, and I urge the people of India to take control over who they give the reins of this country to. ‘Sawal yeh nahi hai ki bastiyan kisne jalai. Sawal yeh hai ki pagal ke haath mein maachis kisne diya (The question is not as to who set fire to the dwellings. The question is who gave the match-box in the hands of a mad person).’”

Nirmala said in Mahua’s presence that the comment was “worse” than the Pappu taunt. “But even worse is this point: ‘Maachis kiske haath me hai’,” Nirmala said, pausing for a moment as BJP MPs shouted “shame, shame”. Sitharaman said she didn’t want to elaborate too much but stressed that the comment was a “matter of concern”.

“I don’t want to elaborate too much on it because probably she (Mahua) wanted to spice the questions and the issues she raised. …But it’s a matter of concern because ‘kisne diya maachis’ is not the issue because in a democracy people elect the leader and give it,” she said. “We don’t need to undermine (the people) by saying ‘kisne diya maachis inke haath mein’. Janta ne diya (People gave the match-stick),” Sitharaman said.

“But how the match-stick is used by the person who has it is important,” the finance minister said, proceeding to offer a contrast between Modi’s home state Gujarat and Bengal. “Recently the BJP had a fantastic victory in Gujarat. Post-election what was the environment there?” she asked and then ventured an answer: “Peacefully, the new government came to power and was sworn in.”

“Now, let’s compare it with West Bengal, post the state government election…. How the match-stick was used by certain persons, that is the question,” Sitharaman added. “When the match-stick was given to us, we gave the Ujjwala free LPG cylinder scheme, we gave light, we gave the PM-Kisan scheme, the Swachh Bharat Mission,” she said as BJP members cheered.

“When you got the matchstick in your hand, there was arson, looting, rape. Our worker’s house was burnt and on top of that the car of our minister of state V. Muralidharan was attacked,” Sitharaman said, referring to the post-poll violence in Bengal.