Why expel Moitra when nothing has been proved? TMC hits back

Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress questioned Lok Sabha Ethics ethics panel’s recommendation to expel the party MP Mahua Moitra from Lok Sabha over allegations of cash-for-query raised by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey.

This is the first time TMC is responding to the roiling allegations that emerged close to a fortnight before cornering the acerbic Mahua Moitra.

TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee asked why the ethics panel recommended expulsion when it has found nothing so far, according to The Indian Express.

The Lok Sabha Ethics Committee probed the allegations that Moitra had taken money from a businessman to ask questions in the Parliament.

The committee is reported to have recommended expulsion of Moitra from the 17th Lok Sabha.

Abhishek Banerjee, who the party’s second-in-command, told media that Mahua is competent enough to fight her battles on her own.

‘I feel this step by the central government and what I read of the ethics committee report, they have said an investigation should happen against her. If you do not have anything against Mahua and it is the subject of investigation, then why has an expulsion been recommended? I feel Mahua is competent enough to fight her battles on her own. They have been victimising me for four years too; it is their standard practice,’ Banerjee was quoted as saying.

Banerjee further said impeachment motions brought against many BJP MPs have not yet been heard, citing the example of Ramesh Bidhuri over communal remarks at BSP MP Danish Ali in Parliament.

‘Nothing has happened against Ramesh Bidhuri; only when somebody speaks against the government, questions are raised. Mahua is competent enough to handle it,' Banerjee reportedly said.

Meanwhile, Enforcement Directorate had summoned Banerjee on Thursday in connection with the alleged recruitment scam.