Mahua Moitra, a Trinamool Congress MP, stated on Friday that she will return to the House with a larger mandate in 2024, a day after the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee recommended her removal from the House over the "cash-for-query" scandal, news agency PTI reported. Taking to X, the TMC MP said: "Proud to go down in parliamentary history as 1st person to be unethically expelled by Ethics Comm whose mandate doesn't include expulsion. 1st expel & THEN ask govt to ask CBI to find evidence. Kangaroo court, monkey business from start to finish".
"Never Waste a Good Crisis they say... - this just helped me double my 2024 winning margin," Moitra said.
Moitra's expulsion was proposed by the Ethics Committee on Thursday, concluding a fortnight of events that included the deposition of three persons across three sittings.
The committee convened here and endorsed its 479-page report, which, according to insiders, recommended Moitra's expulsion, probably the panel's first such step against an MP.
Sonkar informed reporters that six members of the panel supported the report's acceptance while four opposed it.
The four opposition members claimed the panel's proposal was "prejudiced" and "incorrect," and that businessman Darshan Hiranandani, who is accused of bribing Moitra, should have been called to testify before the panel.
He's merely submitted an affidavit.
'Played With Country's Security': BJP Slams TMC MP Mahua Moitra
In the midst of the scandal surrounding the 'cash for query' scam and the Lok Sabha Ethics Panel's recommendation for expulsion, BJP leader Tarun Chugh slammed Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra on Friday, accusing her of sacrificing the country's security interests for "personal benefits," ANI reported.
Speaking to ANI on Friday, the BJP leader said: "She played with the country's data security system and insulted the Parliament, which is regarded as the temple of our democracy, for personal gains. She compromised on sensitive matters, pertaining to national security, in exchange for gifts. The country won't spare her."
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, a BJP politician and former Union Minister, also spoke out, saying, "those trying to brush it (the 'cash for query' charge) under the carpet are fools."
West Bengal BJP leader Rahul Sinha also sharply objected to the ethics panel's findings, which recommended Mitra's expulsion from the Lower House and demanded her resignation as an MP.
"The ethics committee has recommended the expulsion of the TMC leader (Mitra) in question and presented its report before the Lok Sabha Speaker. The committee made the correct decision and we (BJP) stand with them," Sinha told ANI.
"Mahua Moitra should tender her resignation forthwith as an MP. She should step down before being expelled from Parliament. Even her party, the Trinamool Congress, has cast her aside, calling it her 'personal matter'," Sinha added.