Mahua Moitra alleged that the findings are solely based on the written testimonies (File)
After the expulsion of TMC MP Mahua Moitra from the Lok Sabha on Friday, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said that this isn't an issue related to women, adding that Ms Moitra admitted receiving gifts (from Darshan Hiranandani).
Ms Moitra was expelled from the Lok Sabha after a discussion on the report of the Ethics Committee in the 'cash for query' that was tabled in the Lower House today.
"In 2005, when 10 MPs were expelled, at the time the report was presented on the same day. This isn't an issue related to women. She herself admitted of receiving gifts (from Darshan Hiranandani). What other proof is required now?" Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs told reporters in Friday.
West Bengal BJP chief and MP Sukanta Majumdar said that if Ms Moitra wanted to give any answer, she should have given it in front of the committee.
"Earlier too Congress had suspended 10 MPs in a day. This isn't happening for the first time. Yes, it might be happening for the first time in the history of West Bengal...The accused can never present his side in the Lok Sabha, if the accused has to present the side it has to be infront of the Ethics Committee. Mahua Moitra was called before the committee. She presented her side for some time. Later, when she had to answer the questions, she could not answer and ran away... If you had to give any answer, you should have given it in front of the committee," Mr Majumdar said.
Meanwhile, the BJP's IT Cell chief, Amit Malviya, said that Ms Moitra's expulsion was imminent to restore the credibility of the institution.
"Mahua Moitra had become the face of impropriety in Parliament. Her expulsion was imminent to restore the credibility of the institution," Malviya posted on X (formerly Twitter).
"But it is Mamata Banerjee's patronage and selective support for the delinquent MP that must be questioned. She had the state CID snooping on her so she was aware of everything Mahua Moitra was up to. Did she wilfully allow the MP to undermine the institution of Parliament to exercise leverage on corporate houses? What did the poor of Bengal gain? Poor have lost their land and acres of mango groves to Mamata Banerjee's corporate friends. And the people of Krishnanagar, the constituency Mahua Moitra was elected from, suffered, since no one raised their issues," he added.
"We now know what her priorities were! Mamata Banerjee must sack Mahua Moitra from the TMC, failing which it would be obvious that she was acting at her behest. Anyway, nothing moves in the TMC without Mamata Banerjee's consent and active collusion," he said.
Moreover, BJP MP Locket Chatterjee said that there should be no politics on the issue of national security.
The expelled Lok Sabha MP alleged that she has been found guilty of breaching a code of ethics that 'does not exist'.
Following her expulsion from the 17th Lok Sabha as a Trinamool Congress MP in a 'cash for query' case, TMC leader Mahua Moitra on Friday said that the Ethics Committee probing the matter is another "weapon to crush opposition into submission" and that the panel has broken every rule in the book.
Soon after her expulsion, she read her statement on Parliament premises and said, "This LS has also seen the weaponisation of the Parliamentary committee. Ironically the Ethics Committee which was set up to serve as a moral compass for members, instead it has been abused egregiously today to do exactly what it was never meant to do, which is to bulldoze the opposition and become another weapon to 'thok do' (crush) us into submission."
"This committee and this report have broken every rule in the book. In essence you are finding me guilty of breaching a code of ethics that does not exist," Moitra said, adding that the committee is punishing her for engaging in a practice that is routine, accepted and encouraged in the House.
Ms Moitra further alleged that the findings are solely based on the written testimonies of two private citizens whose versions contradict each other in material terms and her right to cross examine them was snatched.
"None of whom I was allowed to cross-examine. One of the two private citizens is my estranged partner, who with malafide intention, masqueraded as a common citizen in front of the committe. The two testimonies have been used to hang me there at polar opposites to each other," she said.
"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," she clarified on the issue.
The Ethics Committee report probing 'Unethical Conduct' of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP had recommended that Moitra "may be expelled" from the Lok Sabha and called for an "intense, legal, institutional inquiry" by the central government in a "time-bound manner".
"The serious misdemeanours on the part of Mahua Moitra calls for severe punishment. The Committee, therefore, recommend that Mahua Moitra, MP may be expelled from the Membership of the Seventeenth Lok Sabha," the report read.
Speaker Om Birla said, "...This House accepts the conclusions of the Committee that MP Mahua Moitra's conduct was immoral and indecent as an MP. So, it is not appropriate for her to continue as an MP..."
The House was then adjourned till December 11.
The opposition MPs immediately staged a walkout after the Lok Sabha adopted the motion to expel Mahua Moitra as TMC Member of Parliament.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)