Vinod Sonkar, 53, is an unlikely newsmaker. The two-time MP from Kaushambi — the back-of-the-beyond parliamentary constituency which remains perpetually under the shadow of its more hallowed neighbours, Allahabad and Phulpur — has never been a favourite child of controversy.
His sitting, as chairman of the Lok Sabha’s Ethics Committee that grilled Trinamool Congress’ MP Mohua Moitra on Thursday, however, caused an unwanted dent to that otherwise non-controversial persona. Being incriminated for his conduct by a high-profile MP is not a perk he would have anticipated would be tagged with this parliamentary post he assumed four years ago.
Moitra, who appeared before the panel to answer queries about the ‘cash-for-query’ allegation she is facing, accused Sonkar of being ‘misogynist’ and asking ‘indecent’ and ‘personal’ questions. “This was an orchestrated vastraharan (disrobing),” Moitra said.
She stormed out of the meeting along with other Opposition members of the panel. Moitra is facing ‘cash-for-query’ charges levelled by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, who has alleged that the TMC MP had taken bribes from Dubai-based businessman Darshan Hiranandani to raise questions in Parliament targeting the Adani Group and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The ethics panel headed by Sonkar called Moitra on November 2 to hear her version. Although Opposition members of the panel backed Moitra’s claim that she was asked ‘undignified’ questions, two-time MP Sonkar, who has been heading the panel since October 2019, denied her charges and accused her of using unparliamentary language.
“She tried to deflect legitimate questions and used unparliamentary language against the panel and the chair. The kind of words she used for the chairman and members of the ethics committee do not suit an MP or a woman,” Sonkar said.
Born on February 18, 1970, Sonkar hails from Sadiyapur in Prayagraj district. After completing his graduation from Allahabad University, he started his own business in the early ‘90s. That was the time the BSP, under Kanshi Ram and Mayawati, was making deep inroads into the state’s political landscape, creating a viable vote bank.
For an educated and well-to-do Sonkar, the BSP was a natural choice to carry forward his political aspirations. He remained associated with the party till 2013, when Amit Shah was sent to UP by the BJP as general secretary in-charge. Like many non-Jatav Dalits, Sonkar, too, found the saffron party an attractive option. During his active association with the BSP, Sonkar himself was never considered fit to contest polls.
Riding the Modi wave, Sonkar defeated the sitting Samajwadi Party MP Shailendra Kumar by over 42,000 votes in 2014 Lok Sabha polls. The party instantly recognised his ‘utility’ as a Dalit face and made him the vice-president of its UP unit and then elevated him to the position of the national president of its Scheduled Caste Morcha, a post he held for three years.
Sonkar was repeated as the candidate from Kaushambi in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and this time, his rival was a formidable Dalit face, Indrajeet Saroj, who had switched from the BSP to the SP. Despite heavy odds, Sonkar emerged victorious by 38,000 votes, in fact adding 3% more votes to his kitty.
As a second-time MP, he was appointed as chairman of the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee, the role which has put him in the present row. Incidentally, in the past nine years of his ‘eventless’ career as an MP, occasional ‘newsworthy’ tales came out of his rivalry with deputy CM Keshav Maurya, the fellow first-time MP from neighbouring Phulpur in 2014.
During his second term since 2019, he has asked 516 questions, which is much higher than the national average of 191 and the state average of 137. Besides, he has introduced three private member bills, including one for compulsory teaching of the Constitution in education institutions. But if what Moitra is alleging is true, she would have advised him to practise what he is advocating to be taught.