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Former Maharashtra Chief Minister and Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan on Friday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Central government for expelling TMC MP Mahua Moitra from the Lok Sabha in a 'cash for query' case, saying that the leader was expelled from the Lower House because she "dared" to speak against businessman Gautam Adani.
Speaking to ANI, the Congress leader also said that the day marked a "black day" in the history of Parliament. "First Rahul Gandhi showed the audacity to ask questions on Adani and Hindenburg report and he was suspended...later Mahua Moitra dared to speak and now she is expelled. This is a black day in the history of Parliament..." Chavan said. He further alleged that the members of the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee did not let Mahua Moitra speak in her favour. "...Didn't Mahua Moitra have the right to cross-examine the witnesses?...majority of members in the ethics committee were from BJP and they did not let her speak..." he added. 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 on Friday. 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. 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. (ANI)
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