Trinamool’s Mahua Moitra expelled as MP in cash-for-query row

mangaloretoday.com

New Delhi, Dec 08, 2023: Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mahua Moitra was expelled from the Lok Sabha on Friday in the ’cash-for-query’ case after the House passed a motion that supported her expulsion as a Member of Parliament.

The motion, which was presented by the Parliamentary Affairs Minister in Lok Sabha, was passed through a voice vote.

 

Earlier, the Ethics Committee of Parliament, which was tasked with looking into allegations of corruption against the Trinamool Congress leader, found Mahua Moitra guilty of accepting money in lieu of asking certain questions in Parliament.
The Ethics Committee, in its report that was tabled in the Lok Sabha on Friday morning, recommended her expulsion from the lower house of Parliament.

Mahua Moitra was expelled after a heated discussion in the Lok Sabha during which Opposition MPs, including Congress’s Adhir Ranjan Choudhary, sought more time to study the Ethics panel’s report.

The Opposition also demanded that Mahua Moitra be allowed to address the House during the debate on the panel’s report. This request was rejected by Speaker Om Birla.

WHAT IS ’CASH-FOR-QUERY’ CASE?

The allegations against Mahua Moitra were raised by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, who accused the TMC of asking questions in Parliament "in exchange for cash and gifts" from businessman Darshan Hiranandani. The BJP MP had cited advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai’s letter which mentioned "irrefutable evidence" of the alleged exchange between Moitra and Hiranandani.

Courtesy: India Today