Mahua Moitra's expulsion from Lok Sabha being planned, but...: Mamata Banerjee

West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee said on Thursday that expulsion of her party MP Mahua Moitra is being planned. This was Banerjee's first remark on Moitra in the cash-for-query allegations levelled against her.

The West Bengal Chief Minister further said that the proposed expulsion of Moitra, however, would help her in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

"Central agencies targetting opposition leaders at present will end after the BJP (loses), following the 2024 elections," she told party workers.

"This government at the Centre is there for three more months," Banerjee added.

The West Bengal Chief Minister has stayed mum on the allegations against Moitra for weeks. Her comments come after the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee recommended Moitra's disqualification from Lok Sabha earlier this month owing to the probe into the cash-for-query row. In an exclusive interview with India Today TV earlier, the TMC MP said the recommendation of her proposal was a "badge of honour" for her.

She also took to X to jab the panel, calling it a "kangaroo court" and doing "monkey business from start to finish".

Moitra has dismissed the allegations against her, terming them as "false, baseless and not supported by even a shred of evidence". The allegations have been levelled against her by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, citing Supreme Court lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai's letter, in which he claimed the TMC MP took bribes from businessman Darshan Hiranandani to ask questions in Parliament.

Mamata Banerjee, meanwhile, took another jibe at the BJP, saying that if the party put four of her ministers behind bars, she will put "eight of them (BJPs)" in jail. She, however, did not name anyone while making this remark.

The Chief Minister also claimed that India would have won the ICC World Cup 2023 had the final match been played at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium or Kolkata's Eden Gardens. She alleged that attempts of "saffronising" the country are underway in full swing - from metro railway stations to the cricket team.

"Saffron is the colour of 'tyagis', but you are 'bhogis'," Banerjee said, targeting the BJP,

The West Bengal Chief Minister said that she would go to Parliament during the Winter Session in December and would ask for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's time to speak on various issues. She added that if time was not given to her and other TMC leaders, then they would hit the streets.