TMC MP Mahua Moitra Expelled From LS In Cash-For-Query Issue

The TMC MP Mahua Moitra was on Friday expelled from the Lok Sabha in a cash-for-query issue after the parliamentary ethics committee submitted its report.

"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," Speaker Om Birla said.

The parliamentary ethics committee on Friday submitted its report on the cash-for-query allegations against Trinamool Congress MP. However, she was not allowed to speak in the Parliament.

However, TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay had requested that Mahua Moitra be allowed to present her side before the House. He said, "...What I propose - my party's spokesperson will be Mahua Moitra herself because the allegation is against her. Wild allegations have been raised. Whether it is true or wrong, let it be spoken by her..."

Earlier, Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee said the party has written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, urging him to give at least 48 hours to read the ethics panel report recommending the expulsion of party MP Mahua Moitra.

"The leader of the All India Trinamool Congress Parliamentary Party wrote a letter to the honourable Speaker seeking a hard copy of the report immediately," Banerjee said. He also said the party has sought 48 hours "so that we can get sufficient time to read the report".

The report was earlier listed in the agenda of the lower house for December 4 but was not tabled.

The opposition party members want a discussion on the recommendations before a decision is taken on Moitra. "If the report is tabled, we would insist on a full-fledged discussion as the draft was adopted in two-and-a-half minutes," the news agency quoted BSP MP Danish Ali as saying.

The committee headed by Vinod Kumar Sonkar, at a meeting on November 9, adopted its report recommending Moitra's expulsion from Lok Sabha over the "cash-for-query" allegation.

Six members of the panel, including Congress MP Preneet Kaur who had earlier been suspended from the party, voted in favour of the report. Four members of the panel belonging to opposition parties submitted dissent notes.

As per Sonkar, six members of the panel supported the adoption of the report and four opposed it.

It all started after BJP MP Nishikant Dubey forwarded a complaint against the Trinamool Congress member by lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, accusing her of taking bribes for asking questions in the House at the behest of businessman Hiranandani to target the Adani Group and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The complaint had an element of intrigue as Hiranandani, called friend by the TMC MP, submitted a sworn affidavit to the Lok Sabha panel, asserting that he had bestowed expensive gifts upon her. This complaint set off a political slugfest, leading to accusations being exchanged between Moitra and Dubey.

The Ethics Committee convened its first meeting over the issue on October 26, during which Dehadrai and Dubey presented their evidence against Moitra. The Trinamool leader then testified before the committee on November 2, culminating in a dramatic turn of events as opposition members walked out, alleging inappropriate behaviour by the chairman towards Moitra.

The Winter Session of Parliament began on Monday and is scheduled to continue till December 22.