Panel report on Mahua Moitra tabled, House adjourned till 2pm
The Parliamentary Ethics Committee presented its report on the "cash-for-query" case against Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra in the Lok Sabha on Friday. As soon as the panel's chairperson and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Vijay Sonkar tabled the report, the opposition leaders started to raise slogans against the central government. Amid the uproar caused by the opposition, the House was adjourned until 2:00pm.
Why does this story matter?
The cash-for-query controversy started after BJP MP Nishikant Dubey claimed that the TMC MP took bribes from businessman Darshan Hiranandani to ask questions in Parliament, targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Adani Group. The saffron brigade MP also filed an official complaint based on documents furnished by Moitra's former partner, Supreme Court lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai.
Durga has arrived: Moitra ahead of ethics panel report
Ahead of the ethics panel's report being tabled in the Lok Sabha, the TMC MP told the media that the people would witness the "battle of Mahabharata." "Mother Durga has arrived, we will see," Moitra said right before Friday's parliamentary session started. "These people who have started snatching clothes will now see the battle of Mahabharata," she added.
Details of the Ethics Committee's report on Moitra
It is worth recalling that the Ethics Committee's report on Moitra was previously listed on the agenda of the Lok Sabha for December 4 but was not submitted. However, the revised list of business released by the Lok Sabha secretariat for Friday lists the panel's report on the cash-for-query row as agenda topic number seven.
Here's Lok Sabha's list of agendas for Friday
What Ethics Committee's report said on Moitra
Six members of the Ethics Committee voted in favor of the report at a meeting on November 9. This includes Congress MP Preneet Kaur, who was previously suspended from the grand old party. On the other hand, four members of the panel belonging to opposition parties submitted dissent notes on it. Earlier reports revealed that the panel's report labeled Moitra's alleged actions "highly objectionable, unethical, heinous, and criminal."
West Bengal CM's previous comments on Moitra's possible expulsion
Though Moitra has refuted all the allegations against her in the cash-for-query row, she did admit to giving her parliamentary login ID to Hiranandani. Notably, Moitra can only be expelled if the House votes in favor of the Ethics Committee's recommendation. Last month, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee claimed Moitra's expulsion from Lok Sabha was being "planned." But, the TMC supremo claimed it would help her in the 2024 general elections.
