Congress MP K Suresh on Friday said that his party will oppose the expulsion of TMC MP Mahua Moitra from the Lok Sabha if the report of the Ethics committee which is set to be tabled in the Parliament today recommends the same.
Speaking to ANI, Congress Lok Sabha Chief Whip K Suresh said, “Today, the Ethics Committee report is being tabled. It is already included in the List of Business in Lok Sabha. Let us see what report are they going to table in the House. If the report states the expulsion of TMC MP Mahua Moitra, we will oppose it tooth and nail.”
Mahua Moitra is facing the heat of the “cash-for-query” allegations against her. The Lok Sabha Ethics Committee has recently recommended her expulsion from the Lower House.
The Ethics Committee, which investigated the allegations made by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, adopted its 500-page report on November 9 recommending Moitra’s expulsion from the 17th Lok Sabha in view of her “highly objectionable, unethical, heinous and criminal conduct.
As the Parliament convenes on Day 5 of the ongoing Winter Session on Friday, the report of the Ethics Committee on Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra in an alleged “cash-for-query” case will be tabled in Lok Sabha.
“Chairperson Vinod Kumar Sonkar and Aparajita Sarangi to lay on the Table the First Report (Hindi and English versions) of the Committee on Ethics,” the agenda released by Lok Sabha read.
The TMC has demanded that the MP Mahua Moitra be given a chance to put forth her defence.
TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay said, “I spoke with the Speaker, and he said that this committee report along with other reports will be tabled. I said that TMC MP Mahua Moitra should be given a chance to speak.”
As per the sources, the draft report on Mahua Moitra’s cash-for-questions case reveals that she visited the UAE four times from 2019 to 2023 while her login was accessed several times.”On 47 occasions, her member portal login credentials were accessed from Dubai,” according to the draft report of the ethics committee.
Amid the ongoing controversy, Mahua Moitra on Monday denied commenting on the Ethics Committee report, saying “she’ll only speak when they table the report before the Parliament.”
Moitra had appeared before the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee on November 2 over the cash-for-query allegations against her. Along with opposition members of the panel, she “walked out” of the meeting on Thursday.
Opposition members raised questions over the line of questioning and alleged that “personal questions” were posed to the Trinamool Congress MP.
Earlier on November 10. Trinamool Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra alleged that the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee which was probing her role in the ‘Cash for Query’ case was functioning like a ‘Kangaroo’ court.
In a post on X, the TMC MP had also said that the committee doesn’t have the mandate for expelling her from the Lok Sabha.
“Proud to go down in parliamentary history as 1st person to be unethically expelled by Ethics Committee whose mandate doesn’t include expulsion. 1st expel & THEN ask government to ask CBI to find evidence. Kangaroo court, monkey business from start to finish” Mahua Moitra had said in her post.
