Mahua Moitra, a member of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), arrived in Parliament on Thursday to appear before the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee over the ongoing cash-for-query controversy. She is being accused of accepting payments in exchange for being allowed to ask questions in Parliament. Citing pre-scheduled Vijaya Dashami activities, Moitra had asked for a summon date till November 5. However, the ethics panel rejected her request and summoned the TMC MP to attend on November 2.
Moitra has expressed her desire to “cross-examine” businessman Darshan Hiranandani, CEO of the real estate firm Hiranandani Group, and Supreme Court advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai in two letters to the ethics commission. In addition, she questioned whether the ethics panel was the appropriate place to look into these kinds of alleged crimes. She also brought up the idea that she should be given a copy of any documents the panel relies on from any department in order to cross-examine that department.
By going to X, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey poked fun at Moitra. “Now even Sukesh Chandrashekhar (thug) is demanding cross examination,” he said on Twitter.
The day before Moitra’s hearing before the ethics panel, India Today TV was informed by BJP-affiliated sources that her Parliament account had been accessed 47 times from Dubai. Additionally, the sources disclosed that she travelled overseas 14 times without authorization while serving as a member of parliament. They alleged that the Lok Sabha Speaker’s (Om Birla) office was not provided with the necessary information pertaining to these trips.
The disclosures coincided with claims made by Hiranandani that the TMC MP intended to harm Prime Minister Narendra Modi by providing him with her Parliament login credentials so he could inquire about the Adani Group.
In a “sworn affidavit” that he provided to the ethics commission, Hiranandani made the assertion. But Moitra has consistently refuted the accusations, claiming that the businessman—a close friend of the TMC MP for a long time—was coerced into writing the “affidavit” by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
Moitra revealed that the only gifts she got from Hiranandani were “one scarf, lipstick, and eye shadow” in her first exclusive interview since the cash-for-query controversy broke. In her speech, she brought up allegations that she asked questions in Parliament in exchange for gifts from the billionaire.
The controversy erupted when BJP MP Nishikant Dubey addressed letters to Om Birla and the ethics council about Moitra accepting money in exchange for information. Jai Anant Dehadrai’s assertion that he had “irrefutable evidence” that the TMC MP had accepted bribes served as the foundation for his letter. According to reports, Dehadrai and Moitra are no longer together, and they are presently at odds about who gets to keep their beloved Rotweiler. In response to Dubey and Dehadrai’s “fake degree MP” and “jilted ex” insults, Moitra has denied all of the charges.
In the cash-for-query controversy, Dubey has previously appeared before the ethics panel.
