’Will fight BJP outside Parliament, in gutter, on streets’: Mahua Moitra on her expulsion as MP

TMC leader Mahua Moitra, who was expelled from the Lok Sabha as an MP over the 'cash-for-query' case on Friday, warned the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), saying, "The Ethics Committee has no power to expel....This is the beginning of your (BJP) end." She said she will fight the BJP outside Parliament or in a gutter or on streets.

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“You have assumed the powers of the quasi-judicial authority and imposed a penalty on me that you have no power to do. You have disregarded due process proportionality and abused every tenant...jab naash manush par chha ta hai, tab vivek mar jata hai (when a human is nearing his/her end, then his/her conscience dies first),” Mahua Moitra said.

“I am 49 years old, I will fight with you for the next 30 years inside Parliament, outside Parliament, in the gutter or on the streets,” she added.

The Lok Sabha expelled the TMC MP after holding her guilty of sharing her credentials with others and accepting gifts from a businessman to extend favours. The Ethics Committee of the Lok Sabha had recommended Moitra's expulsion from the House over the "cash-for-query" allegation. Read details of the report here

Addressing mediapersons after her expulsion on Friday, Mahua Moitra said that there is no evidence of any cash of any gifts anywhere. "The recommendation of the expulsion is based solely on the ground that I have shared my Lok Sabha portal login. There are no rules what-so-ever to govern the sharing of logins...," she added.

She launched a scathing attack on the Narendra Modi government at the Centre. She said, "...this kangaroo court has only shown to all of India that the haste and the abuse of due process you have used demonstrates how important Adani is to you, and to what length you will go to harass a single woman MP into shutting her into submission..."

Mahua Moitra accused the BJP government of "hating minorities (and) women".

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She alleged that the Ethics Committee, “which was set up to serve as the moral compass for members, instead it has been abused egregiously today to do exactly it was never meant to do - which is to buldoze the Opposition”.

"This committee and this report broke every rule in the book. In essence you are finding me guilty in breaching the code of ethics that does not exist. The committee is punishing me for practice that is routine, accepted and encouraged in Lok Sabha...," she said.