Opposition leaders have come down heavily on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after TMC leader Mahua Moitra was expelled from the Lok Sabha over the cash-for-query allegations. After a heated debate over the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee panel report during which Moitra was not allowed to speak, Parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi moved a motion to expel the TMC member for “unethical conduct”, which was adopted by a voice vote.

West Bengal minister and TMC leader Shashi Panja slammed the BJP saying they “cannot tolerate a woman in power”. “How did they think this expulsion was enough to mute her just because she spoke against BJP? In 2024, she will contest the elections,” Panja said.

Congress MP Manickam Tagore took a dig at the saffron party saying, “Whoever speaks against Aadani will be silenced…Mahua is a perfect example”. “New Parliament and new rules…Mahua was not allowed to speak at all in Parliament. She was not given a chance to speak her side…this is a planned political conspiracy. Democracy failed today. It is a black day for democracy…this is like a third emergency,” he said.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said that Mahua’s expulsion is a “good sign for the future”, adding that he hopes Moitra to be re-elected with a bigger majority.

Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi told ANI: “The decision was taken based on the statement of the person who levelled the allegation,” adding that the move was “against the natural course of justice”.

Samajwadi Party leader Dimple Yadav said that the move shows the “true mentality” of the BJP – not only regarding women but also regarding expression of speech. “On one side the government gets Nari Vandan Vidheyak (Women’s Reservation Bill ) in Parliament where there is no clarity regarding implementation of the same . On the other side, the government expels a member of Parliament, a woman , Mahua Moitra who has spoken explicitly regarding the corporate caucus. That too by an ethics committee which has no defined rules and regulations. This shows the true mentality of the BJP government not only regarding women but also regarding expression of speech. What message does India carry forward with regards to women and democracy ! BJP talks about Nari Shakti but in true sense it wants to obliterate the ‘Shakti’,” she wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Meanwhile, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti wrote: “Its a sad day for the world’s largest democracy when a brilliant feisty Parliamentarian like Mahua Moitra is harassed to no ends, slandered & eventually expelled from Parliament in an utter disregard for the due process. This is the price she paid for speaking truth to power.”

BJP’s stance on Mahua Moitra’s expulsion

Ethics Committee member and BJP MP Aparajita Sarangi hit out at the opposition parties supporting Moitra saying, “Anyone who is standing by her is not supporting Mahua Moitra, but supporting unethical standards and conduct and non-observance of parliamentary procedures.”

“It is not a question of being a man or a woman. It is a question of being a responsible parliamentarian,” she further told ANI.

Meanwhile, West Bengal BJP MLA Agnimitra Paul said, “This was about to happen. We were sure that this would happen because anybody whoever it is, is not above the law. Mahua Moitra has played with the security of the nation and still, she doesn’t have any shame. She has been trying to confuse the matter and saying that because she was questioning Adani and Modi, that’s why she was removed.”

Paul added, “Moitra sold herself and we are again sure that the CBI investigation will start and she will soon go to jail.”

Mahua Moitra dares BJP after expulsion

Following her expulsion as MP from Lok Sabha, Moitra dared the saffron party that she would fight it over the next “30 years, inside and outside Parliament, inside gutter, on streets”, and accused them of “hating Muslims and women”.

“National security with a login portal? Mr. Adani is buying all our ports, all our airports… His shareholders are foreign investors and the ministry of home affairs is giving them clearance to buy all our infrastructure,” she said outside the Parliament.