Cash for query row: West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) has chosen to keep a distance from the controversy involving its MP Mahua Moitra, who has been accused of accepting bribes in exchange for raising questions in Parliament, said party leaders on Saturday.
Kunal Ghosh, the West Bengal general secretary and spokesperson of TMC, has stated that the party has no comments to make on this matter. He added that the individual at the center of this controversy is the most appropriate person to respond to it. “The party has nothing to say on this issue. We think the person around whom this controversy is revolving is best suited to react to this,” Ghosh said.
Another senior TMC official, who opted to remain anonymous, has disclosed that the party's leadership is reluctant to become embroiled in any controversy and, therefore, will maintain a distance from this issue.
What is the controversy?
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey has accused Moitra of taking bribes from a businessman to ask questions in Parliament and urged Speaker Om Birla to constitute an inquiry committee to look into the charges against her. The BJP leader also demanded immediate suspension of Moitra from the House.
Claiming that an advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai has shared “irrefutable evidence” of the bribes, Dubey demanded the Lok Sabha Speaker to constitute an inquiry committee against Moitra. “I am in receipt of a letter from Jai Anant Dehadrai, Advocate, wherein, he has shared irrefutable evidence of bribes exchanged between Mohua Moitra, Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) and Darshan Hiranandani, a well-known business tycoon, to ask question(s) in Parliament in exchange for 'Cash' and 'Gifts',” the BJP MP alleged in the letter dated October 15.
Dubey claimed that the advocate has done an “elaborate and painstaking research” on the basis of which he has concluded that till quite recently, Moitra asked approximately 50 questions in Parliament, out of total 61, posted by her, which “shockingly seek information, with the intent of protecting or perpetuating business interests of Darshan Hiranandani and his Company”.
Notably, BJP leader Dubey's complaint has been referred to Parliament's Ethics Committee by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
Darshan Hiranandani allegedly paid Moitra
Darshan Hiranandani, the CEO of real estate-to-energy group Hiranandani, who allegedly paid Moitra to raise questions in Parliament about Adani Group, recently claimed in a signed affidavit that she targeted Gautam Adani to "malign and embarrass" Prime Minister Narendra Modi whose “impeccable reputation” gave opposition no opportunity to attack him. He alleged that Moitra provided him with her Parliament login and password to ask questions targeting Adani.
Vinod Sonkar, the chairman of the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee, had said he had received the sworn-in affidavit from Hiranandani.
Mahua Moitra files defamation suit against BJP MP
In response, Moitra filed a defamation suit against them before the Delhi High Court.
Moitra, however, has raised questions over the credibility of Hiranandani's affidavit, alleging that it was "drafted by the PMO" and he was forced to sign it after being "threatened" with "total shut down" of his family's businesses.
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) pointed a “proverbial gun" to the CEO and his father's heads and gave them a deadline of 20 minutes to sign the letter, Mahua claimed in her statement issued late on Thursday night (October 19).
In a tweet, the TMC lawmaker said she would welcome answering questions to the CBI and Ethics Committee whenever she was called. "I welcome answering questions to CBI and Ethics Committee (which has an absolute majority of BJP members) if and when they call me. I have neither time nor interest to feed an Adani-directed media circus trial or answer BJP trolls. I am enjoying Durga Puja in Nadia. Shubho Sashthi," she wrote on X.
