I will be back in next Lok Sabha with a bigger mandate: Mahua Moitra on expulsion report
Mahua Moitra said even if she is expelled now from the Lok Sabha, she will be back in the next Lok Sabha with a bigger mandate.
Trinamool Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra said she would be back in the next Lok Sabha with a bigger mandate even if she is expelled now based on the report of the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee probing allegations of cash-for-questions charges against her. In her first reaction to the 500-page report that was adopted by the ethics committee in a 6:4 vote, Mahua Moitra told news agency PTI it was a pre-fixed match in a kangaroo court. “For India, it is the death of parliamentary democracy,” Moitra said.
The ethics committee termed the allegations against Mahua Moitra very serious and demanded that she be expelled from the Lok Sabha as she shared her Parliament login with Industrialist Darshan Hiranandani who admitted to having posted questions against Gautam Adani which were raised in Parliament by Mahua Moitra. The logins were used 47 times from Dubai when Mahua Moitra was not there, reports said.
The ethics panel recorded the statements of BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, and advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai who originally made the complaint against Mahua – his ex-partner. Mahua Moitra was questioned on November 2 where she claimed she faced harassment as indecent and personal questions were asked to her. Four opposition members of the panel on Thursday opposed the draft report and said there was no discussion on it. Darshan Hiranandani was not summoned, they said in their disapproval of the report.
'First, let them expel me'
Mahua Moitra said the draft report is just a recommendation and nothing has happened. "Let them take it up in the Winter Session of Parliament. This actually does nothing to me. This can’t shut me up," Mahua told PTI.
"I am happy that the BJP has shown to the entire country the mockery they have made of parliamentary democracy," Mahua said.
Will Mahua Moitra be expelled from the Lok Sabha?
Chairman of the ethics panel Vinod Sonkar said they will submit their report to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. The Speaker may order for the report to be published. During the next session of Parliament, the committee chairman will table the report in the House and then there will be a debate on it, followed by a vote on a government motion for the member's expulsion. Only then, Mahua Moitra's expulsion will be effective.
Trinamool's last-minute support to Mahua Moitra
Trinamook maintained studied silence over the issue of cash-for-questions allegations against Mahua Moitra. It even went on to say that the part would not comment on the issue. On Thursday, however, there was a change in stance as Trinamool national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee said Mahua Moitra has been the victim of vendetta politics. "Whoever is questioning the government on the Adani issue is being harassed. How can the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee take any action against Moitra even before the allegations are proven against her?" Abhishek said.
Mahua Moitra became an MP for the first time after she won from the Krishnanagar constituency of West Bengal in 2019. Before that, she was an MLA of Karimpur.
(With PTI inputs)