‘Where is the Ethics Committee now?’: TMC seeks expulsion of BJP MP Pratap Simha, draws parallels with Mahua Moitra

The TMC on Wednesday sought the expulsion of BJP MP Pratap Simha under whose name a pass was issued to at least one of the Lok Sabha intruders who was later overpowered by the MPs and subsequently arrested. While several MPs sought an explanation from Home Minister Amit Shah, TMC MPs asked why Pratap Simha has still not been expelled. They argued that Mahua Moitra was swiftly expelled for allegedly breaching national security but Simha, who jeopardized the safety of fellow MPs still continues to remain a Parliamentarian. 

Mahua Moitra was expelled from the Lok Sabha last week after the report of the Ethics Committee found her guilty of accepting gifts and illegal gratification from businessman Darshan Hiranandani to further his interest. 

"Our MP @MahuaMoitra faced expulsion over baseless allegations of sharing her PASSWORD, yet BJP MP Pratap Simha, who issued PASSES to the infiltrators, remains unscathed,” said AITC in a post on X. 

TMC leader in Lok Sabha Sudip Bandyopadhyay demanded the expulsion of Pratap Simha. "Mahua Moitra was expelled over a password, it was linked with national security. The MP who gave passes to these people, we asked the Speaker to name the MP. Is this not a question of security? If the smoke was poisonous, many MPs could have been hurt. We want to see what happens," he said after a meeting was held by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla over the incident.

Party MP Kalyan Banerjee said under the new laws the security breach would be defined as a terrorist activity. "According to that, this is a terrorist activity, the person who gave the pass is involved in terrorist activities... Just because he is a BJP MP, will he be saved?" he said.

TMC Rajya Sabha MP Dola Sen also demanded action against Simha. "Where is the Ethics Committee now, we wonder. Our AITC MP Mahua Moitra shared her login and password, and she was expelled from the house, saying it was a security breach. BJP MP Pratap Simha from Mysore, who has issued the entry pass, is it not a security breach?" said Sen, adding that double standards are an age-old problem of the BJP. 

Meanwhile, Lalit Mohan Jha, believed to be the mastermind of the Parliament security breach was arrested on Thursday as he surrendered to the police. Four of the six accused have been charged with the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for the intrusion. Two of them Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D barged into the Lok Sabha chamber and set off smoke canisters, while two more, Neelam Devi and Anmol Shinde protested outside by setting off smoke canisters. Vishal Sharma aka Vickey, in whose house the accused stayed in Gurugram before their Parliament intrusion, is still under detention.

Also read: Parliament security breach: Mastermind Lalit Jha surrenders in Delhi