"In 2024, Mahua will contest elections," TMC leader Shashi Panja on Moitra

New Delhi [India], December 8 : Opposition leaders on Friday questioned the Lok Sabha Ethics Panel recommendation for expelling Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra and accused BJP-led government of indulging in 'vendetta politics'.
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.
West Bengal minister and TMC leader Dr Shashi Panja asserted that Moitra will contest the 2024 elections.
"A woman in power is something which BJP cannot tolerate....How did they think this expulsion was enough to mute her just because she spoke against BJP? In 2024, she will contest the elections," Panja said.
Rajya Sabha MP from the Communist Party of India Binoy Viswam called it a political vendetta.
"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," he said.
Meanwhile, Congress MP Rajni Patil demanded a complete inquiry and said that proof should be given and then a decision should be taken.
"A Parliamentarian is not limited to a constituency...If they are criticising this a complete inquiry should be conducted - proof should be given and then a decision should be taken," MP Rajni Patil said.
JMM MP Dr Mahua Maji said, "The way this is done is undemocratic. The allegations against her have not been proven yet. This is a part of a conspiracy to silence the Opposition."
TMC MP, Congress MP Manickam Tagore said that whoever speaks against Adani, they will be silenced, Mahua Moitra is a perfect example of this
"New Parliament and new rules. Whoever speaks against Adani, they will be silenced, Mahua Moitra is a perfect example of this. She was not allowed to speak at all in Parliament...she was not given a chance to speak her side...this is a planned political conspiracy...democracy failed today...it is a black day for democracy...this is like a third emergency," Manickam Tagore said.
Congress MP Rajni Patil said that the government's behaviour is - you show me the person and I will show you the rule. Different rules are set for different people..."
Moreover, DMK Joint Secretary and Spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai said that it is draconian, it should not have happened especially in the Parliament which is the temple of democracy.
"It is draconian; it should not have happened especially in the Parliament which is the temple of democracy...here, whatever was tabled here was not allowed to be seen by anybody else before the voting took place...Mahua Moitra was not allowed to cross examine the witnesses...this establishes the misogynistic mindset of BJP...the sexual assault against Brij Bhushan Singh or the blatant violation of human rights against women in Manipur, the BJP does not stand up with women. The only reason why Mahua Moitra was targeted was because she raised questions against Adani's scam," Annadurai said.
Furthermore, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and the supremo of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) Mehbooba Mufti said that it is a sad day for the world's largest democracy when a brilliant feisty Parliamentarian like Mahua Moitra is harassed to no ends.
"Its a sad day for the world's largest democracy when a brilliant feisty Parliamentarian like Mahua Moitra is harassed to no ends, slandered and eventually expelled from Parliament in an utter disregard for the due process. This is the price she paid for speaking truth to power, Mufti posted on X (Formerly Twitter).
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..."
Moreover, Union Minister Subhas Sarkar said that In a day her (Mahua Moitra) portal was launched in 4 places in the world - Delhi, Bengaluru and outside the country, Dubai and the USA and for whom?
"In a day her (Mahua Moitra) portal was launched in 4 places in the world - Delhi, Bengaluru and outside the country, Dubai and the USA and for whom? For a corporate house and a businessman," Sarkar said.
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.
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.
Union Parliamentary Pralhad Joshi had moved the motion to consider the report of the Ethics commitee which was further taken up for the debate.
Mahua Moitra is facing the heat of the "cash-for-query" allegations against her. The Lok Sabha Ethics Committee had recently recommended her expulsion from the Lower House.
The draft report was adopted by a 6:4 majority in the panel last month. As per the sources, the draft report on Moitra's cash-for-questions case reveals that she visited the UAE four times from 2019 to 2023 while her login was accessed several times.