NEW DELHI: A day after TMC MP Mahua Moitra walked out of the Parliamentary Ethics Committee, along with opposition MPs on the panel, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on Friday criticised Congress leader N Uttam Kumar who defended Moitra in the alleged cash-for-query controversy.Dubey alleged that unauthorised access to the parliamentary portal through a member’s login account from an outsider posed a threat to the country’s sensitive documents.
In his criticism of the Congress MP, who is also a member of the LS Ethics Committee, Dubey pointed out that Uttam Kumar Reddy had come to Moitra’s defence even when her own party, the TMC, had not done so. He also emphasised that no questions about Moitra’s personal life were asked during the proceedings, and he went so far as to pledge to retire from politics if evidence suggested otherwise.
Dubey accused Moitra of playing the “woman’s victim card” against the committee and harming the image of Schedule Caste MP Vinod Sonkar, the committee’s chairman. He alleged that Darshan Hiranandani, in an affidavit, had indicated that he paid for Moitra’s travel expenses, both domestically and abroad.
Dubey refuted Moitra’s allegations, emphasising that the committee’s proceedings were recorded verbatim, just like parliamentary debates. He challenged Congress and JDU MPs to produce a copy of the committee’s proceedings if they had the courage to do so.
Additionally, BJP IT chief Amit Malviya too criticised Moitra, claiming that she admitted to sharing her login credentials. He questioned the arrangement for typing her questions and speculated about the involvement of Darshan Hiranandani’s office in Dubai.