Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Sougata Roy has demanded the removal of Kalyan Banerjee as the party's chief whip in the Lok Sabha after a spat with fellow MP Mahua Moitra. Roy accused Banerjee of "uncivilised" behaviour on multiple occasions and cited incidents of Banerjee breaking a bottle and throwing it at the chairman of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) meeting and making inappropriate remarks about Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. The spat between Moitra and Banerjee reportedly occurred on April 4 when a TMC delegation met the Election Commission over duplicate voter ID numbers. Banerjee was tasked with collecting signatures from TMC MPs on a memorandum to be submitted to the Election Commission, and Moitra alleged that she was not included in the signatories, leading to a heated exchange. Roy, who was present at the time, said he saw Moitra crying and complaining about Banerjee's behaviour. Roy believes that Banerjee's actions warrant his removal as chief whip and left the decision to Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee. The incident has also been highlighted in leaked WhatsApp messages, where Banerjee engaged in heated exchanges with another TMC MP, Kirti Azad, leading to further accusations of uncivilised behaviour.
Bharatiya Janata Party MP Nishikant Dubey on Sunday accused Trinamool Congress's Mahua Moitra of taking 'bribes' from a businessman to ask questions in Parliament and urged Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to constitute an 'inquiry committee' to look into the charges against her.
It referred to Article 105 of the Constitution which deals with powers, privileges etc, of the Houses of Parliament and of the members and committees thereof.
The Lok Sabha's ethics committee on Saturday turned down Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra's request to call her after November 5 while allowing a two-day extension, as the panel asked her to appear before it for 'oral evidence' on November 2 in relation to the allegations against her.
Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra was expelled on Friday from the Lok Sabha after the House adopted the report of its Ethics Committee that held her guilty of accepting gifts and illegal gratification from a businessman to further his interest.
Moitra said she has been found guilty of breaching a code of ethics that does not exist and that there was no evidence of cash or gift given to her.
The Lokpal directive came while deciding a complaint by BJP Lok Sabha member Nishikant Dubey alleging that Moitra had asked questions in the Lower House of Parliament in exchange for cash and gifts from Dubai-based businessman Darshan Hiranandani.
Moitra was heard using an objectionable word to which the Chair objected and urged members to avoid cuss words.
Mahua asserted that despite all efforts by the Bharatiya Janata Party to "sound the death knell" for constitutional democracy, India is too great a country to be destroyed by the fascists.
She has already challenged her expulsion in the Supreme Court after the Lok Sabha adopted the report of its ethics committee recommending her ouster. The case is listed for hearing on January 3, 2024.
Moitra on Tuesday stirred a controversy with her remarks that she has every right as "an individual to imagine Goddess Kaali as a meat-eating and alcohol-accepting goddess", as every person has the right to worship god and goddess in his or her own way.
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra has written to the ethics committee of the Lok Sabha stating that she cannot appear before it on October 31 in connection with the allegations against her due to prior engagements and will be available only after November 5.
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra on Tuesday stirred a controversy by saying that she has every right as an individual to imagine Goddess Kali as a meat-eating and alcohol-accepting goddess, as every person has the right to worship god and goddess in his or her own way.
The TMC leader, who was expelled from the Lok Sabha on December 8 last year, was earlier asked to vacate the house by January 7 after her allotment was cancelled.
It would be a privilege indeed if a breach of privilege motion is initiated against me for speaking the truth during India's darkest hour, Moitra had tweeted on Tuesday.
Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra on Wednesday moved the Supreme Court against two ordinances brought out by the Centre under which the tenure of directors of the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate can now be extended by up to three years after the mandated term of two years.
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra on Tuesday said she will appear before the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee on November 2 in the cash-for-query case, but asserted that she should be allowed to cross-examine businessman Darshan Hiranandani, from whom she is accused of taking bribes to ask questions in Parliament.
The senior counsel appearing for the former MP claimed she was being "hounded", and information on issuance of summons to her by the agency was published by the media even before she received it.
In the letter to Delhi Police Commissioner S N Shrivastava, she said the station house officer of Barakhamba Road police station had come to meet her at her residence on February 12 and shortly "thereafter, around three Border Security Force personnel armed with assault rifles had been deputed outside her house."
Opposition MPs, including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, staged a protest in the Parliament House complex against alleged donation theft at the Ram temple in Ayodhya and "police excesses" against student protesters. The INDIA bloc vowed to continue their agitation, demanding accountability from the government, particularly Home Minister Amit Shah, on these issues.
Participating in a debate on the bill in Lok Sabha, Moitra said women's reservation is dependent on two totally "indeterminate dates" and asked, "can there be a greater jumla".
Rebel Trinamool Congress MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar's son Baidyanath Ghosh Dastidar has sent a legal notice to former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and several TMC leaders, including Mahua Moitra, Kalyan Banerjee, Sougata Roy and Sonali Guha, denying allegations that he had sought a party ticket from the Barasat Assembly Constituency.
Moitra brought two birthday caps in the House to press her argument that the businessman being most talked about had "topi-pehnau-ed" the government.
"The TMC wants to defeat BJP and will do whatever necessary. We want to ensure that BJP does not win or form a government through the backdoor," Moitra said when asked about a possible pre-poll alliance with the Goa Forward Party (GFP) and Congress.
'It disappoints and saddens me no end that Mahua has allowed herself to be carried away by the Goebbelsian onslaught mounted on the BJP and Narendra Modi by certain vested interests which find themselves exposed and thrown out of the gravy train,' says B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant.
Sources said the committee is also expected to underline its unhappiness at the conduct of some opposition members during its proceedings and make a mention of it in its recommendations to the House.
Opposition leaders have sharply criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's appeal to 'forgive' young protesters who used abusive language, accusing him of deflecting from issues of alleged police action and a 'broken education system'.
'I apologise for the mean, hurtful, accurate things I said... My meme editing skills are improving,'
Moitra's counsel mentioned the matter for urgent listing before a bench headed by Chief Justice of India S A Bobde.
According to sources, Preneet Kaur, a Congress MP, is believed to have voted in support of the report.
She also took a swipe at the Bharatiya Janata Party over its defeat in the just-concluded Himachal Pradesh assembly elections, saying the ruling party's president could not hold on to his home state. "Who is the Pappu now?" she asked.
The TMC MP also said the UAPA bill seeks to designate individuals as terrorists without due process. She was also of the view that this bill also takes away the powers of the state and also called it anti-federal, anti-constitutional and anti-people.
Cricketer Yusuf Pathan will contest from the Baharampur Lok Sabha seat, whereas Kirti Aazd will fight from the Bardhaman-Durgapur constituency.
Politicians and celebrities lined up at polling stations to cast their votes.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju has accused the Opposition of setting pre-conditions for a debate on the critical NEET paper leak issue, stating that the government is ready for a comprehensive discussion.
"Features of the Bill are anti-people and anti-Constitution...it is a very dangerous act," the fiery TMC MP said.
The Airports Authority of India has received a request for a waiver from contractual restrictions that prevent airport concessionaires and their group entities from holding equity in scheduled airlines, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol confirmed in the Rajya Sabha. This comes amid reports of the Adani group's interest in the airline business, despite their denial.
'Oral evidence of Dr Nishikant Dubey, MP, in respect of complaint dated 15 October, 2023 given by him against Smt Mahua Moitra, MP...,' the subject of the Lok Sabha secretariat communication to him read.
The Lok Sabha's Ethics Committee will hold its first meeting on Thursday on the allegations against Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, with Bharatiya Janata Party parliamentarian and the complainant Nishikant Dubey and advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai scheduled to record their statements.
Government sources have clarified that a passport has never been considered proof of citizenship in India, a stance consistent for the past 12 years and rooted in the Passport Act 1967. This clarification, reiterated by the Ministry of External Affairs, has drawn criticism from opposition leaders and public figures.
