Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra has criticized Parliament’s Ethics Committee chairman Vinod Sonkar for “talking openly to the media” about the ‘Cash for Query’ row in which the TMC MP is embroiled is in a controversy. It is alleged that Mahua Moitra received money to raise questions about Gautam Adani in Parliament.
In a tweet, Mahua Moitra alleged that the agenda of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is to oust it from the Lok Sabha and demanded to know how the affidavit of businessman, Darshan Hiranandani, on the ‘Cash for Query’ scandal was leaked to the Lok Sabha. media before an investigation.
“Chairman of the Ethics Committee speaks openly to the media. See Lok Sabha Rules below. How does the “affidavit” find its way to the media? The chairman must first investigate how this was leaked. I repeat, BJP’s agenda is to expel me from LS and silence me on Adani,” Mahua Moitra said in a tweet.
Also read: Darshan Hiranandani ‘forced to sign white paper’: TMC MP Mahua Moitra on ‘Cash for Query’ allegations
Meanwhile, Ethics Committee chairman Vinod Sonkar has assured that the committee will reach a conclusion after examining everything related to the ‘Cash for Query’ scandal.
The committee was convened on October 26 in which Mahua Moitra will be interrogated. He said that BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, who first leveled allegations against the TMC MP, has been asked to be present with the evidence.
What does the affidavit say?
Darshan Hiranandani alleged in the affidavit that Mahua Moitra had shared her Parliament credentials with him.
The affidavit states: “In his three-page signed affidavit to the Ethics Panel, Darshan Hiranandani had admitted to his friendship with TMC MP Mahua Moitra and alleged that the Lok Sabha member saw targeting the Adani group as a route to fame. She became a Lok Sabha MP in May 2019. Her friends told her that the shortest path to fame was to attack Narendra Modi. She thought the only way to attack Prime Minister Modi was through Gautam Adani and his group to attack as they are both from Gujarat.”
“She knew that Indian Oil Corporation was entering into an agreement with Dhamra LNG, a joint venture of the Adani group. She drafted a few questions to ask in Parliament that would contain elements of embarrassing the government and attacking the Adani group. She shared her email address as an MP with me so I could send her information and she could ask the questions. I agreed to her proposal,” the affidavit said.
Hiranandani also claims that the TMC MP also demanded favors and gifts from him.
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Updated: Oct 20, 2023 7:32 PM IST
