‘You have paid a heavy price for taking away a MP’s voice’: Mahua Moitra attacks the government | News from India

NEW DELHI: Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra on Monday took a swipe at the BJP’s reduced strength in Parliament and said the saffron party had paid the price for targeting her. During a discussion on the motion of thanks to the President’s address to a joint session of Parliament, she said the BJP will not be able to treat the opposition the way it treated them during the last session.
“When I stood here last time, I was not allowed to speak. But the ruling party has paid a very heavy price for suppressing the voice of an MP. In an attempt to suppress me, people have permanently removed 63 of your members,” the Trinamool MP said in her speech. “In their attempt to silence me, the public has silenced them, thereby losing 63 MPs… mujhko bithane ke chakkar mein janta ne aapko bitha diya, aapke 63 MPs loss kar diya,” Moitra said in a defiant tone.

The Trinamool leader was referring to her expulsion from the 17th Lok Sabha for taking bribes and sharing her parliamentary credentials with others. Moitra was expelled after a discussion on the Ethics Committee’s report, which found her guilty.
The Trinamool leader criticised the President’s speech and said some important issues were not mentioned. “The BJP’s ‘Raj Tantra’ has been weakened by the ‘Lok Tantra’ of this country. This is not a stable government. It is dependent on numerous allies who have made U-turns in their history. This time we are 234 warriors who have walked over the fire. They will not be able to treat us like they did last time,” she said.
The Trinamool MP also attacked the government over Manipur, saying, “The President’s address revolves around six issues. The budget for the Northeast has been quadrupled, but the word ‘Manipur’ does not appear anywhere in the speech.”
“The Prime Minister has not once mentioned ‘Muslim’, ‘madrassa’, ‘mutton’, ‘machhli’ and ‘mujra’ during the election campaign, but he has not mentioned ‘Manipur’. We don’t need you to look East or act East. We need you to work East and most importantly, embrace the East,” she said.