Following her expulsion from the Lok Sabha after an Ethics Committee report on the cash-for-query allegations against her, Trinamool Congress leader and a vocal critic of the Narendra Modi government, Mahua Moitra, warned that this is the beginning of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s end.
The Lok Sabha on Friday expelled Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra after holding her guilty of sharing her credentials with others and accepting gifts from a businessman to extend favours.
After a heated debate during which Moitra was not allowed to speak, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi moved a motion to expel the Trinamool member for “unethical conduct”, which was adopted by a voice vote.
Opposition members walked out of the House as the Lok Sabha speaker started the voting process on the motion moved by Joshi.
Mahua Moitra said: “If this Modi government thought that by shutting me up they could do away with the Adani issue, let me tell you this that this kangaroo court has only shown to all of India that the haste and the abuse of due process you have used demonstrates how important Adani is to you. And to what length you will go to harass a single woman MP into shutting her into submission…”
“The Ethics Committee has no power to expel….This is the beginning of your(BJP) end. Ethics panel punishing me for practice that is routine, accepted and encouraged in Lok Sabha. In essence I have been found guilty of breaching code of ethics that does not exist,” said Moitra after her expulsion as TMC MP.
“… The Lok Sabha has presided over the most tenacious witch-hunt of one of the 78 MPs, a first-timer, a single woman, with no political lineage… This Lok Sabha has also seen the weaponisation of a parliamentary committee,” Moitra told reporters today.
“National security with a login portal? Mr Adani is buying all our ports, all our airports… His shareholders are foreign investors and the ministry of home affairs is giving them clearance to buy all our infrastructure,” she said, after she was ousted from the Parliament.
“Ramesh Biduri stands up in Parliament and makes objectionable remarks against Danish Ali, one of the few Muslim MPs…. the BJP has sent 303 MPs but hasn’t sent one Muslim MP to Parliament. No action has been taken against Biduri for abusing Ali…You hate minorities, you hate women, you hate nari shakti,” she said.
“I am 49 years old, I will fight you for the next 30 years, inside parliament, outside parliament, in the gutter, on the street,” she added.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee describes it as a sad day for Indian parliamentary democracy.
“Moitra’s removal is met with strong disapproval, signaling concerns about the state of democratic principles. The party, underlining solidarity with Moitra, asserts its commitment to upholding the values of justice and fairness within the political landscape,” she said.
She said: “I am telling you that Mahua (Moitra) is a victim of the circumstances. I strongly condemn it…Our party will fight along with the INDIA alliance…It is unfortunate for the democracy.”
Veteran leader Sonia Gandhi said the Opposition stands with what the Trinamool Congress MP has said.
