New Delhi: The victory lap following the assembly elections over. It was time to get down to the acrimonious business of taking on vociferous Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) critic, Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra, by expelling her from the Lok Sabha, strategically on a Friday afternoon with the Treasury Benches hoping the furore will die out over the weekend.
But Moitra says she has other plans. “I am 49 years old. I will fight you for the next 30 years, inside parliament, outside parliament, in the gutters, you on the streets. I will see the end of you, do not wonder,” she said, in the presence of senior parliamentarians like Sonia Gandhi, Farooq Abdullah, and her own party MPs standing behind her.
The optics of it all were clear in the House. The mighty BJP issued a whip to its 303 MPs to be present to expel one member of parliament based on the recommendations of the Ethics committee. The acrimony began with the tabling of the report that was listed in the business of the House on Monday itself but not laid then as the BJP did not want the limelight to shift away from “Prime Minister Narendra Modi winning the three assembly polls”.
Also read: ‘Kangaroo Court, Modi Govt Can’t Shut Me Up’, Says TMC MP Mahua Moitra, Expelled From Lok Sabha
The extent of opposition unity was clearer outside. The INDIA alliance, seen to be on shaky ground after the Congress’ disastrous performance in the Assembly polls, rallied behind the TMC with members of the opposition appealing to Speaker Om Birla to let Moitra speak in the House. Sonia Gandhi, usually seen to be at the forefront of any gathering, conceded the space to Moitra. The TMC, which had initially been cool to its MP when the allegations first broke, made an impassioned plea to the Speaker in the House that Moitra be allowed to defend herself – an opportunity allegedly denied to her by the Ethics Committee.
Party chief Mamata Banerjee on a visit to Kurseong, Darjeeling, told reporters, “I congratulate the INDIA alliance. They are united and fight back. Our party fully supports Mahua’s case. Mahua will win the battle and people will give a befitting reply to the BJP.” On questions on how they fight this case, she said, “Politically we will fight and people will fight and will give the justice.”
INDIA alliance rallies behind Moitra
For the BJP, La’affaire Moitra was a tit-for-tat moment against historic grievances the party held when six of its MPs were expelled from the House in the 2005 cash-for-query scandal. Online portal, CobraPost, had done a sting operation against these MPs and caught them on camera accepting cash.
The allegation against Moitra, for which she was expelled, was that she shared her Lok sabha portal login and password details with Dubai-based business Darshan Hiranandani, who in turn, loaded a majority of the questions on her behalf in return for cash and gifts. The questions were majorly those in which the Hiranandani group had business interests that clashed with those of business tycoon Gautam Adani. The allegations, of what is being called the “cash-for-query” scam by the BJP, were made by Moitra’s bete noire, Nishikant Dubey.
The report was tabled at noon and a half-hour discussion was slated from 2 pm to debate the report. TMC MP Sudip Bandopadhyaya told The Wire, “I had to write a letter to the Speaker to be given a copy. The 495-page report has been shared with the party now just as the House is reconvening and a version uploaded on the Lok Sabha portal. I asked for 48 hours to study the report but we are expected to read the report and debate on it all within half an hour.”
Defending this, parliamentary affairs minister Prahlad Joshi told reporters, “The operative part of the report, some 20 odd pages, were uploaded on the portal as parliament has now gone paperless.”
Inside the House, responding to allegations that no time had been given to members to read the 495-page report and that Moitra was being expelled on the same day without a hearing, Joshi said, “Then Speaker Somnath Chatterjee had given a ruling in a similar manner. He had said the MPs had been given an opportunity before the Pawan Bansal committee. They cant be allowed to speak in the House now.”
The 2 pm debate began with Birla taking the high moral ground. “The country looks up to us to set high parliamentary standards. Our behaviour should not be a blot on democratic principles,” he said.
Beginning the debate, Manish Tiwari said, “The whip should be withdrawn. We are sitting as a jury and it should be left to the conscience of the members. The member against whom allegations have been levelled, hasn’t been given an opportunity to be heard or cross examine those who made these allegations. As per the Ethics committee can recommend whether the person is innocent or guilty but it cannot recommend what punishment should be levied. That power rests with the House to decide the quantum of punishment.”
BJP MP Heena Gavit countered the opposition. “Darshan Hiranandani has said on affidavit that he gave her cash and jewellery. And the MP herself admitted that she gave her login ID and password to Hirnandani. This is clearly against the rules. Moreover, her credentials were used from five different places in one day including Delhi, Dubai and the US. This is a violation of parliamentary procedures and the image of India’s MPs has been tarnished in India and globally. It is wrong to say this is Draupadi’s cheerharan.”
TMC leader Kalyan Banerjee and Sudip Bandopadhyaya’s pleas that on behalf of the TMC, their speaker would be Moitra was turned down by the Speaker. Banerjee said, “A fair trial would be there if the affected person is being heard. We are acting as a quasi-judicial body. I am requesting that you allow her to speak. Hiranandani’s affidavit has been relied upon. He has not testified before the committee. No affidavit can be relied upon unless the person comes before the committee. The right to cross-examine has not been allowed. This has been established by the Supreme Court too. This is a violation of the principle of natural justice. Her right as protected under Article 14 of the Constitution has been violated. Besides, the rules don’t permit, the Constitution doesn’t permit her expulsion under Article 102 and the 10th Schedule of the Constitution.”
Interstingly, Janata Dal (United) MP and member of the Ethic Committee Giridhari Yadav, whom Moitra refers to as the Govinda for Draupadi, said, “My questions have always been asked by my PA and other staff. I don’t even know how to use a computer. This time I was so scared after seeing all this that I didn’t ask a single question.” He said all MPs share their credentials with their staff and that Moitra was “being singled out”.
To which Birla warned him, “Action can be taken against you if you say that you do not ask your own questions. This is very serious.”
The Committee also censured MP Danish Ali for violating the “confidentiality clause” and “inciting the public by cunningly twisting the deliberations of the committee”. Ali told The Wire, “I take this censure as a badge of honour. When history is written, i will be remembered as someone who stood up for the honour of a woman”.
The last word, however, went to Moitra who outside the House said, “This is the beginning of the end. Jab naash manush par chaata hai toh pehle vivek mar jaata hai (When the end is near, man loses his morality first)”.