New Delhi

Mahua Moitra is now a former member of the Indian Parliament. She was expelled from Lok Sabha on Friday (Dec 8) over the 'cash-for-query' scandal. As Lok Sabha, the lower house of Parliament of India, adopted the motion to expel her, opposition parties staged a walkout. The Opposition has reacted sharply over Moitra's expulsion.

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Who is Mahua Moitra?

Mahua Moitra, 49, represented Krishnanagar in east Indian state of West Bengal. She contested 2019 Lok Sabha elections on All India Trinamool Congress Party ticket. Before becoming a member of parliament, Moitra was a member of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly from Karimpur constituency (2016-2019).

Mahua Moitra's early life

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Mahua Moitra, a former investment banker, was born on October 12, 1974 in Cachar district in Assam, a northeast Indian state. She attended Gokhale Memorial Girls' School in Kolkata.

Moitra earned a graduate degree in economics and mathematics from Mount Holyoke College South Hadley in Massachusetts. 

Watch | Indian lawmaker Mahua Moitra expelled from Parliament, amid uproar

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Mahua Moitra career

She worked as an investment banker for US banking giant JP Morgan Chase. She worked in New York and London.

She rose through the ranks to become vice-president at JPMorgan Chase in London. She left the lucrative job in 2009 to join politics in India.

Mahua Moitra political career

Mahua Moitra joined the All India Trinamool Congress in 2010. Before that, she did a brief stint in Indian National Congress. Her political career got a boost when she won the 2016 West Bengal assembly election from Karimpur constituency. In 2019, she won Lok Sabha elections from Krishnanagar constituency.

She has been one of the most vocal critics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government in India. Moitra has also served as Trinamool Congress' national spokesperson and is a regular participant in television debates.

Her comments, in and out of the Indian parliament, have been the subject of wider public debate.

Why has Mahua Moitra been expelled from Lok Sabha? 

Moitra was suspended from Lok Sabha after a recommendation to this effect from Parliament's Ethics Committee. She has been expelled over 'cash-for query' scandal in which she was accused by a BJP MP of accepting bribes for asking questions against an Indian business tycoon.

Also Read | India: MP Mahua Moitra expelled from Lok Sabha over cash-for-query row

Nishikant Dubey, the BJP MP, accused Moitra for accepting bribe from businessman Darshan Hiranandani for asking questions targetting Gautan Adani, a big name in Indian corporate circles. It has been accused that she shared the credentials of her parliament portal login with Hiranandani.

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Moitra has denied allegations of intentional wrongdoing and has said that the credentials were shared with the businessman as she would take help from his staff for typing out her queries.

(With inputs from agencies)