'Certain CBI Will Be Sent To Harass Me Now': Mahua Moitra After Lok Sabha Expulsion

The TMC MP, aged 49, asserted her determination to fight against perceived injustices both inside and outside Parliament over the next three decades.

TMC MP Mahua Moitra

Source : PTI Images

After her expulsion from the Lok Sabha, Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mahua Moitra on Friday voiced concerns about potential "harassment" by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Moitra said, "Tomorrow the CBI will be sent to my house, I am sure. They will harass me for the next six months". The TMC MP, aged 49, asserted her determination to fight against perceived injustices both inside and outside Parliament over the next three decades.

VIDEO | "I am 49 years old, I will fight you for the next 30 years inside Parliament, outside Parliament," says TMC leader @MahuaMoitra after Lok Sabha expelled her from the House, adopting Ethics Committee recommendation in 'cash-for-query' matter.

Earlier, Opposition members… pic.twitter.com/xprZDxKIW2

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 8, 2023

#WATCH | "The Ethics Committee has no power to expel....This is the beginning of your(BJP) end," says Mahua Moitra after her expulsion as TMC MP. pic.twitter.com/WZsnqiucoE

— ANI (@ANI) December 8, 2023

Moitra addressed the reasons for her expulsion, emphasising that the recommendation was solely based on the accusation that she shared her Lok Sabha login credentials. She criticised the lack of rules governing login sharing and emphasised the importance of MPs in relaying citizen questions to Parliament.

"Recommendation of expulsion is solely on the ground that I shared my Lok Sabha login credentials. There are no rules whatsoever to govern the sharing of logins. As the hearing of the Ethics Committee demonstrates, all of us MPs are conveyor belts to get questions from citizens, the public, and to voice that in Parliament," she said.

Moitra stated in her response to the Modi government's actions that the expulsion was intended to silence her on the Adani issue. She accused the government of acting in haste and abusing due process, citing "Mr Adani's importance to the administration".

#WATCH | Mahua Moitra on her expulsion as a Member of the Lok Sabha says, "...If this Modi government thought that by shutting me up they could do away with the Adani issue, let me tell you this that this kangaroo court has only shown to all of India that the haste and the abuse… pic.twitter.com/DKBnnO4Q0d

— ANI (@ANI) December 8, 2023

While facing allegations of jeopardising national security by sharing login credentials, Moitra cited the Adani Group's activities, which included foreign investments and acquisitions of ports and airports throughout the country.

Moitra compared her expulsion to being judged by a "kangaroo court," claiming that the parliamentary panel was being used by the government to subdue the opposition. She claimed in her speech that she had been found guilty of violating a code of ethics that she claimed did not exist, and that no evidence of cash or gifts had been presented against her.

In the "cash-for-query" case, the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee recommended Moitra's expulsion. Moitra, flanked by opposition leaders including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, criticised the handling of the situation in the 17th Lok Sabha following her removal from the House.

VIDEO | "The 17th Lok Sabha has indeed been historic. It is a House which saw the passage of the Women's Reservation Rescheduling Bill, but it has presided over the most tenacious witch-hunt of one of 78 women MPs. This Lok Sabha has also seen the weaponisation of a Parliamentary… pic.twitter.com/Y0CyUG9OPw

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 8, 2023

She described the expulsion as part of a witch-hunt against her, a first-time MP from a border constituency near Bangladesh with no political ancestors. The government then moved a motion to expel her, calling her continued membership in Parliament "untenable".