NEW DELHI: Launching a scathing attack on Trinamool Congress (TMC) over the ‘cash-for-question’ controversy surrounding its MP Mahua Moitra, the BJP on Sunday asked the ruling party of West Bengal to clear its stand on the issue.
Meanwhile, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, who has been relentlessly attacking Moitra, said that he will observe a “ceasefire till Dussehra on October 24”.
Breaking its silence on the controversy, TMC on Sunday said that it will take an appropriate decision after the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee completes its investigation into the charges against Moitra.
Speaking to the media, TMC’s Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien said, “The member concerned has been advised by the party leadership to clarify her position regarding the allegations levelled against her. She has already done that. However, since the matter has to do with an elected MP, her rights and privileges, let the matter be investigated by the right forum of Parliament, after which the party leadership will take an appropriate decision.”
He added that the party has observed media reports on the matter.
TMC’s West Bengal general secretary and spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said the party has nothing to say on the issue and that the “person around whom this controversy is revolving is best suited to react to this”.
BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla asked the TMC central leadership to clarify its official stand on the row.
Taking to X, he asked, “TMC’s official stand on Mahua Moitra is that ‘we won’t comment’. The said MP will defend herself. Does it mean: 1) TMC accepts Mahua Moitra has made serious breaches, including giving her login to be operated from foreign soil by a rival corporate entity in exchange for kickbacks? 2) If so, then why is TMC still retaining her rather than sacking her? 3) Is the TMC afraid of taking this action because the party itself has something to hide? Perhaps people in the party knew or endorsed it? TMC must clarify.”
The events unfolded last week after Nishikant Dubey and Moitra’s estranged partner and lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai alleged that the TMC MP took favours from business tycoon Darshan Hiranandani and shared her Parliament login credentials to raise questions in the lower House.
Dubey also wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to constitute a committee to look into the charges against Moitra and to suspend her from the House till the panel completes its inquiry.
Birla has deferred the complaint against Moitra to Parliament’s Ethics Committee, which will record the statements of Dubey and Dehadrai on October 26.
Moitra has steadfastly denied the allegations and has welcomed inquiries from the CBI and the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee. She also said that she has turned down two offers of a peace deal.
Darshan Hiranandani, the CEO of the Hiranandani Group, who allegedly paid Moitra to raise questions in Parliament about the Adani Group, recently claimed in a signed affidavit that she targeted Gautam Adani to “malign and embarrass Prime Minister Modi”.
Moitra has refuted all the allegations and raised questions over the credibility of Hiranandani’s affidavit. She has alleged that his affidavit appeared to be drafted by the Prime Minister’s Office and Hiranandani might have been forced to sign it, faced with the threat of a “total shutdown” of his family’s businesses.