Black Chapter? How Politicians Reacted On Mahua Moitra's Expulsion

Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra has been expelled from Lok Sabha following the controversial cash-for-query case. After an alleged investigation, the Lok Sabha has expelled Moitra finding her guilty of allegedly sharing her credentials with others and accepting gifts from businessmen in exchange for favours. Post her expulsion, the opposition party (INDIA bloc) staged a protest by walking out of the Lok Sabha. 

Many ministers have come forward in support of Moitra. Calling it a vendetta politics, an undiscussed move and an incomplete report, the opposition leaders have criticised the government and the Ethics Committee for her expulsion. 

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New black chapter: Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury

Congress minister Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said, "It is a new black day in the new House. A new black chapter is starting today."

Incomplete report: Danish Ali

Bahujan Samaj Party MP Danish Ali who was the member of the ethics panel that investigated the charges against Moitra objected to the kind of questions asked to Moitra by panel chief Vinod Kumar Sonkar and said that the report was incomplete. 

He added, "We believe the report is incomplete, because the deposition was not completed. Five MPs walked out and the report was adopted in two-and-a-half minutes. We want a discussion on this. The walkout by MPs was because they were asking filthy questions. It is there in the minutes (of the meeting)."

Political Vendetta: Binoy Viswam 

Calling the move "political vendetta", Rajya Sabha MP from the Communist Party of India Binoy Viswam said, "The way in which the Ethics Committee was behaving one should feel it is a politically motivated scenario with absolute vendetta. The vendetta was against a critic of the government."

Travesty of justice: Shashi Tharoor

Congress MP Shashi Throor has called the report an "inadequate document". He said, "It fails to meet the basic standards of any report that can come up with such a dramatic recommendation of expulsion. It has also been apparently adopted in two-and-a-half minutes without any serious discussion."

Calling the move a "travesty of justice", Tharoor said that the decision involved no cross-examination of those who alleged the accusation was done. He also said that Moitra herself did not get a chance to speak in her defence. 

Moitra was character assassinated: Priyanka Chaturvedi

Priyanka Chaturvedi of Shiv Sena (UBT) also made similar allegations. She said, "The affidavit on which it is based, the witness was not even called. His statement is golden...What he says is right, what Mahua says is wrong."

She further added that Mahua Moitra was character assassinated rather than being asked serious questions about the issue in hand, "Expulsion will set a very wrong precedent that you can misuse power to throw any MP out of Parliament because they ask sharp questions," she added. 

Government has been unfair to women: Nusrat Jahan

Alleging that the ruling government has always been unfair to women, MP Nusrat Jahan said, "Has it actually been fairly conducted? We don't know. Because this Government hasn't been really fair when it comes to women. We have asked for a hard copy of the report. Our leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay has asked for it.".

"After studying the report, we can come to a conclusion and when the discussion happens, we have all requested that Mahua be given an opportunity to speak for herself and say whatever she feels because she is the most affected in this case," she added. 

Misadventure at the hands of BJP: MP Karti Chidambaram

Congress MP Karti Chidambaram criticised the BJP government and said that the expulsion of Moitra was another misadventure at the hands of the BJP. "All I can say is if they indulge in this misadventure they will add an extra 50,000 votes to her re-election from her constituency in 2024," she added. 

Betrayed democracy: Mamata Banerjee

Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee said, "I don't understand how only half an hour can be given to all parties to read a 495-page report and then debate. I congratulate the INDIA alliance, we all are united. The party is fully supporting Mahua's case. She is election by the people and represents women and the younger generation. How they betray democracy! They did not allow Mahua to take her own stand," 

What Mahua Moitra said

Reacting against her expulsion, Mahua Moitra said that the Ethics Committee has no power to expel her. This, she said, is the"beginning of your (BJP) end." She further added, "You have assumed the powers of the quasi-judicial authority and imposed a penalty on me that you have no power to do. You have disregarded due process proportionality and abused every tenant...jab naash manush par chha ta hai, tab vivek mar jata hai (when a human is nearing his/her end, then his/her conscience dies first)." 

She also alleged that the BJP hates minorities and women. She said that the Ethics Committee was used to bulldoze the Opposition. It broke every rule and found her guilty of breaching the ethics that never existed. "I'm 49 years old, I will fight you for the next 30 years, inside parliament, outside parliament."