Suspended Congress MP Preneet Kaur votes in support of Mahua Moitra's expulsion

New Delhi: Suspended Congress MP Preneet Kaur on Thursday broke ranks with the Opposition and voted in support of the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee report that recommended expulsion of Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra in the cash for query case.

Sources said she did not join four other Opposition MPs -- Congress’ V Vaithilingam, BSP’s Danish Ali, CPI(M)’s P Natarajan and JD(U)’s Giridhari Yadav -- who voted against the report. Six MPs supported the recommendation. A fifth Opposition MP, Congress' N Uttam Kumar Reddy, could not attend the meeting but emailed his dissent note.

The Ethics Committee chairperson Vinod Sonkar said Kaur, wife of former chief minister Amarinder Singh who quit the Congress and joined the BJP, supported the recommendations to maintain parliamentary standards. BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, who was one of the complainants against Mahua, said she did not make any compromise on national security.

Dubey posted on 'X' in Hindi, "Punjab has always stood for India's identity and national security, today again Captain Amarinder Singh ji and Congress Party MP Preneet Kaur ji did not make any compromise on national security. India was, is and will always be grateful to the bravehearts of Punjab."

Opposition MPs claimed Kaur told them that she was under pressure. She was present with Sonkar and another BJP MP Aparajita Sarangi when he spoke to the media after the meeting.

Congress had suspended Kaur in February this year for alleged anti-party activities following a complaint by Punjab Congress president Amrinder Raja Warring and other state leaders. She was accused of helping the BJP in Punjab.