"Mahua must get an opportunity to speak for herself": TMC MP Nusrat Jahan on Cash for Query report

New Delhi: After the report of the Ethics Committee recommending the expulsion of Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra in a "Cash-for-query" matter was tabled in Lok Sabha, TMC MP Nusrat Jahan came out in support of her fellow party parliamentarian and said that she must be given an opportunity to speak for herself as Moitra is the most affected person in this case.
Questioning the Ethics panel investigation, TMC MP from Basirhat targeted the Modi government and said that it is not compassionate to women in this country.
Speaking to ANI, Nusrat Jahan said, "Has it actually been fairly conducted? We don't know. Because this Government hasn't been really fair when it comes to women. We have asked for a hard copy of the report. Our leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay has asked for it."
"After studying the report, we can come to a conclusion and when the discussion happens, we have all requested that Mahua be given an opportunity to speak for herself and say whatever she feels because she is the most affected in this case," she added.
Earlier, Bharatiya Janata Party MP and Ethics Committee chairperson Vinod Kumar laid on the table the first Report (Hindi and English versions) of the Committee on Ethics. The House was adjourned till 2 PM amid a ruckus created by the opposition leader.
Stating that the report was adopted in a hurry without following the correct procedure, BSP MP Danish Ali, who is a member of the Ethics Committee said, "We are demanding a discussion on the report because the discussions were incomplete even at the Ethics Committee. Deposition of the one against whom allegations have been made was not complete."
"The kind of questions that were asked of her were such that five members of the committee walked out. After that walkout, the adoption report was put forth and it was adopted within two and half a minutes. Having a majority doesn't mean that you will do whatever you want," the BSP MP said.
The Ethics Committee, which investigated the allegations made by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, adopted its 500-page report on November 9 recommending Moitra's expulsion from the 17th Lok Sabha in view of her "highly objectionable, unethical, heinous and criminal conduct.
The draft report was adopted by a 6:4 majority in the panel last month.
As per the sources, the draft report on Moitra's cash-for-questions case reveals that she visited the UAE four times from 2019 to 2023 while her login was accessed several times.
Six members of the panel voted in favour of the report, including suspended Congress MP Preneet Kaur. Four members of the panel belonging to opposition parties submitted dissent notes. The opposition members termed the report a "fixed match" and said the complaint filed by Dubey, which the panel reviewed, was not supported by a "shred of evidence".
Moitra can be expelled only if the House votes in favour of the panel's recommendation.