The recent churn in the INDIA alliance notwithstanding, the Congress and the other constituents of the Opposition bloc on Friday rallied behind Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra who was expelled from the Lok Sabha for indulging in “unethical conduct” and committing “serious misdemeanours”. As Moitra stood on the steps of the Parliament building and addressed the media soon after her expulsion, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and other Opposition MPs stood behind the TMC leader and listened to her in rapt attention. Minutes after the expulsion, West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC chairperson Mamata Banerjee called it a “murder of democracy” and the BJP’s “vendetta politics”. She said the expulsion would boost Moitra’s “morale” and her “image” and argued the party was standing with her. “I am shocked and sad. Four hundred and ninety-five pages of the report (Ethics Committee report) were placed. After just 30 minutes of discussion, she was expelled. How can one read 495 pages in 30 minutes? She was not even allowed to speak her side. She was not even allowed to speak in self-defence. They did not allow her to explain her side. This is a murder of democracy. This is injustice,” Banerjee said. “We will fight it boldly and politically. The party supports her. She is from the younger generation and a female MP … I congratulate the INDIA alliance. We have fought unitedly. They have stood beside Mahua and Trinamool Congress against this. Together, we will fight against the BJP,” she said. Within Parliament and outside, the INDIA bloc put up a united face, a fact acknowledged by Banerjee. For instance, Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, a bitter critic of the TMC who had earlier written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla arguing that expulsion was an “extremely serious punishment”, wrote to the Speaker again minutes after the report was tabled in the House at noon. Arguing that members should be given adequate time to go through the 104-page report — apart from several annexures and other documents — to effectively take part in the discussion, he said, “I would therefore request you to fix a day and time at least three days from now for taking up the discussion on the Ethics Committee Report.” Chowdhury argued the same point as the discussion began in the afternoon. The Congress fielded Manish Tewari who questioned the hurry in which the discussion was held. “Heavens would not have fallen had three to four days been given to us to go through the report so that we can effectively put across our point of view,” he said. Tewari and other Opposition leaders, both inside and the outside, questioned the procedure followed by the Ethics Committee, arguing that Moitra was denied “natural justice” as she was not given the chance to cross-examine businessman Darshan Hiranandani, with whom she is accused of sharing her Parliament login and password, or lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai who complained to the Central Bureau of Investigation about her. “Can the procedure of the Ethics Committee override the fundamental principle of natural justice, which is the organising principle of every justice system in the world … from what we read in the newspapers it was clear … that the accused (Moitra) was not even given an opportunity to defend properly. What kind of procedure is this? It goes against the fundamental principle of natural justice,” Tewari said. He said according to Rule 316 D of Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business, the Ethics Committee can only recommend that a certain person is guilty, but cannot recommend the sentence. “That power lies with this House … The recommendation of the Ethics Committee is fundamentally flawed,” he said. Chowdhury rose again when the government opposed and Speaker Birla rejected the submission of TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay to allow Moitra to speak. Later, the Opposition walked out before the motion moved by the government proposing her expulsion was put to vote. Outside the House, the members of the INDIA bloc, including Sonia, walked together to the Gandhi statue and staged a protest. And it was not just the Congress. Even the Left parties, the TMC’s rivals in West Bengal, criticised the Union government. "The ignominious track record of curtailing Parliament’s right to ensure the govt’s accountability. On top of growing suspensions of MPs has now come the expulsion of a LS MP. The emasculation of India’s Parliamentary Democracy under Modi govt," CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury posted on X. Rajya Sabha MP Binoy Viswam of the CPI said, “The was vindictive by all means. They robbed all ethics from the Ethics Committee. Their purpose was to silence the political criticism. Personal matters are personal. To drag them into political affairs is unethical. The BJP is authoritarian." In a comment full of sarcasm, Akhilesh Yadav said the BJP should hire a consultant to take away the membership of Opposition leaders so that the time of the ministers, MPs and MLAs is not spent on conspiratorial activities but on activities of public interest. “If the yardstick on which the membership of Opposition MPs is being taken is applied to the ruling party, then perhaps only one or two of their MPs-MLAs will be left in the House. Some people prove to be more lethal for the ruling party on the streets than in the House,” said the Samajwadi Party (SP) chief. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Jha said Moitra’s expulsion was a clear signal that “those who called Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse a patriot will sit in Parliament … those who have abused the minorities will sit in Parliament”. He added, “A person against whom women wrestlers have complained will sit in Parliament but not Mahua Moitra …What is her guilt? She tried to raise questions against a bade mahapurush … by doing this you have proved that the emperor has no clothes.”
