Picture : ANI/ X
Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra has equated her expulsion from the Lok Sabha with hanging by a “kangaroo court” and alleged a parliamentary panel is being weaponised by the government to force the opposition into submission.
Minutes after her expulsion as a Lok Sabha member, Moitra said she has been found guilty of breaching a code of ethics that does not exist and that there was no evidence of cash or gift given to her.
#WATCH | “…I am 49 years old and for the next 30 years, I will fight you inside the Parliament and outside; in the gutter and on the streets…We will see the end of you…This is the beginning of your end…We’re going to come back and we’re going to see the end of you…,”… pic.twitter.com/qOFfHdrxXZ
— ANI (@ANI) December 8, 2023
The Ethics Committee of Lok Sabha had recommended her expulsion in the “cash-for-query” case.
Later speaking to media and backed by the entire opposition leaders , Mahua hit out hard at the BJP saying , “…I am 49 years old and for the next 30 years, I will fight you inside the Parliament and outside; in the gutter and on the streets…We will see the end of you…This is the beginning of your end…We’re going to come back and we’re going to see the end of you…,”
She further stated, “This Lok Sabha has also seen the weaponization of a Parliamentary Committee. Ironically, the ethics committee 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’ us into submission…The findings are based solely on the written testimonies of two private citizens whose versions contradict each other in material terms none of whom I was allowed to cross-examine. One of the two private citizens is my estranged partner who with malified intention masqueraded as a common citizen in front of the committee. The two testimonies have been used to hang me, they are polar opposites to each other…,”
Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor tweeted ,
It’s a complete travesty, @sagarikaghose. Fortunately it has only strengthened @MahuaMoitra who is now likely to be re-elected with a bigger majority. Also do note how the #INDIA parties all stood with her. Another good augury. https://t.co/ntF0gqDLAi
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) December 8, 2023
On Mahua Moitra’s expulsion as TMC MP, Congress MP Manickam Tagore told ANI , ” 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…”
#WATCH | “Justice has been denied to Mahua Moitra,” says Sudip Bandyopadhyay after Mahua Moitra was expelled as TMC.
Opposition MPs walked out from Lok Sabha after the motion to expel Mahua Moitra was passed in the House pic.twitter.com/o4XxW5VL0m
— ANI (@ANI) December 8, 2023
On the expulsion of Mahua Moitra as TMC MP, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi told media outside parliament, ” Decision was taken based on the statement of the person who levelled the allegation. It is against the natural course of justice …”
