TMC MP Mahua Moitra expelled from the Lok Sabha in 'cash for query' case

Lok Sabha has expelled TMC MP Mahua Moitra amid cash-for-query row. The decision was taken by the lower house after discussion. While opposition members voiced support for Moitra, the NDA allies raised the issue citing national security. While NDA allies voted in favour of her expulsion, the opposition members maintained silence during the voting.Moitra, a Member of Parliament for Trinamool Congress (TMC) from West Bengal state's Krishnanagar constituency, was accused by her former personal friend and lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai and Nishikant Dubey — a lawmaker from PM Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party — of accepting money and expensive gifts for asking a certain set of questions in Lok Sabha. 

Moitra has accepted that she shared her online credentials with a businessman friend to allow submission of her pre-approved questions which she later intended to ask in Lok Sabha. In Lok Sabha, the lawmakers are directly elected by the people in general elections. Moitra is one of the prominent leaders of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress (TMC), one of a handful of political parties that Modi-led BJP's electoral juggernaut has been unable to dislodge from power. BJP MP Nishikant Dubey had approached Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla against Moitra, accusing her of asking questions in Lok Sabha to target the Adani Group at the behest of businessman Darshan Hiranandani, in exchange for gifts. Dubey further claimed that lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai provided him with proof of the alleged bribes. Nishikant Dubey, an elected representative of Jharkhand state's Godda constituency, has demanded that Moitra be suspended, citing a 2005 precedent when 11 Members of Parliament were disqualified over "cash for query" accusations.