"This happens to anyone who speaks against BJP": AAP's Saurabh Bharadwaj on Mahua Moitra's expulsion

New Delhi [India], December 9 : The expulsion of Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra from the Lok Sabha has drawn sharp reactions from the Opposition leaders with Delhi Minister and AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj criticising the BJP-led Central government, asserting that the government prefers positive feedback and those who speak against BJP face the consequences.
"This happens to anyone who speaks against BJP, those speaking favourably face no consequences, while those questioning the government face punitive actions," said the AAP leader.
Bhardwaj said that those who vocally ask questions are attacked by the Central Government and the agencies associated with them.
"This is a well-known fact that the people who raised questions with the BJP central government and kept their points strongly, the central government and the institutions associated with the central government are targeting them. The funding of all such organisations that used to reveal the truth about the government has been stopped," said Saurabh Bharadwaj.
He emphasized the importance of holding the government accountable through questions and expressed concern that stifling dissent could be detrimental to the nation's well-being.
"It can be said that the government only wants to listen to positive things about itself. If anyone speaks positive things they can continue speaking, and if anyone speaks against them then action is taken against them. But if questions will not be asked to them (government) this will be a loss for the people of the country," he added.
The AAP leader further said that the people of the nation are not going to ask their questions directly, they have to follow the mediums only, their representatives. In such a scenario, saying that the questions came from somewhere does not make any sense.
"The questions are sourced from different mediums, if the question has been sourced and you call that wrong, I think this whole definition is wrong in that case," he said.
He said that Sanjay Singh and Mahua Moitra are among the ones of many who have been targetted by the central government and its associated agencies for questioning the government.
Mahua Moitra was accused of sharing her Parliament login ID password with businessman Darshan Hiranandani. He was also accused of asking 61 questions about his ID between 2019-23, which were not asked by Mahua but by Hiranandani.
Mahua Moitra, earlier, alleged that she had 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.
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.
"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 poles 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."