NEW DELHI: Trinamool leader Mahua Moitra was today expelled from Lok Sabha after the House accepted the recommendations of Ethics Committee‘s probe report on cash-for-query charges against her.
The Lok Sabha voted to expel her with a voice vote as the opposition members staged a walk-out after a brief debate over the 495-page report.
Trinamool’s plea that Mahua be allowed to speak in her defence was turned down by Speaker Om Birla, who reminded the opposition that the precedent was set in 2005 under the Congress rule when 10 MPs were expelled in a day by the House in a similar manner.
So, what are the charges against Mahua Moitra
- She took bribes/gifts from businessman Darshan Hiranandani to ask questions in Lok Sabha to target the Adani group
- She shared her parliamentary login credentials with the businessman
- Her parliamentary account was accessed from multiple locations in one day
Watch: ‘Expelled’ TMC MP Mahua Moitra gets emotional, says ‘kangaroo court punished me’
How did the matter come to light?
- It was Mahua’s estranged parter and Supreme Court lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai who lodged a complaint and shared details with BJP MP Nishikant Dubey.
- Nishikant Dubey approached Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla who referred the complaint to the Ethics Committee
- Businessman Darshan Hiranandani, who allegedly paid Moitra to raise questions in Parliament about the Adani Group, claimed in a signed affidavit that the TMC MP from Krishnanagar targeted industrialist Gautam Adani to “malign and embarrass” Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
What did the Ethics Committee do?
- Ethics Committee took just three sittings to probe the charges and finalise its report. Opposition members alleged that the report was adopted in two-and-a-half minutes.
- The proceedings of the Ethics Committee were boycotted by opposition MPs and Mahua Moitra. They accused panel chairman Vinod Sonkar of asking objectionale personal questions to the Trinamool leader.
- Sonkar and BJP members of the panel rejected all allegations and accused Moitra of being arrogant. They also accused the opposition MPs of staging drama to help the Trinamool leader.
What did Ethics Committee report reveal?
- Mahua’s parliamentary login was accessed from Dubai several times
- Her log in was accessed from different locations thousands of kilometers apart on the same day
- Of the 61 questions asked by her in Lok Sabha, 50 were related to those business sectors that interested Darshan Hiranandani
What did Mahua say on her expulsion?
- Mahua said she was being hanged by a kangaroo court. She said the findings are solely based on the written testimonies of two private citizens whose versions contradict each other in material terms
- One of the two private citizens is my estranged partner, who with malafide intention, masqueraded as a common citizen in front of the committe.
- Mahua highlighted the contradiction in the claims against her. The complainant says (that) I accepted cash in consideration for my businessman to ask questions in furtherance of his commercial interests. But the businessman’s suo motu affidavit, says I pressurised him into uploading questions to further my agenda. The two are at pole of opposites.
What does this controversy mean for the opposition?
- It has bought together almost all the opposition parties, who were struggling to cope with the differences that had cropped up during the assembly elections.
- The opposition parties spoke in one voice and rallied together behind the Trinamool MP.
- Mamata was quick to announce that her party will fight the BJP with all other opposition parties.
What did the BJP say?
- The BJP said Mahua Moitra’s expulsion was an “apt decision” as there was proof of the “bribe-for-query” allegations levelled against her.
- Parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi said, “This is not an issue of women. Questions were asked (to Moitra) about money and some gifts. She admitted that she got scarfs of so-and-so brand, lipstick of so-and-so brand. She did not refuse it.”
Will it impact the Lok Sabha elections?
- The issue is unlikely to have any long-term impact. It may at best be one of the several issues that cements the bond between opposition parties when it comes to a shared narrative.
- It may help Mahua Moitra win another term riding on the sympathy she will be able to generate in her constituency of Krishnanagar in West Bengal.
Watch Breaking: TMC MP Mahua Moitra ‘expelled’ from Lok Sabha | ‘Cash-For-Query’ case