New Delhi [India]: Bharatiya Janata Party MP Nishikant Dubey, who levelled ‘Cash for Query’ allegations against Mahua Moitra, on Friday said that the ‘Cheerharan’ of the TMC MP was done by the opposition’s INDIA bloc and not by Lok Sabha Ethics Committee Chairman Vinod Sonkar.
The BJP MP said that the ‘personal questions’ were asked by Mahua Moitra’s ‘friends’, who were also members of the Ethics panel, which has adopted its draft report with a 6:4 majority against the TMC MP.
Moitra, after storming out of the panel’s November 2 meeting, released a letter, written to LS Speaker Om Birla, alleging that she was subjected to the “proverbial vastraharan” by Chairman Sonkar (BJP MP) in the presence of the committee. She was backed by opposition members, including Danish Ali.
She further described the episode as “proverbial vastraharan (stripping)” referring to the chapter in Mahabharat, where Kauravas humiliated Padavas’ queen Draupadi in darbar.
“As per media reports, the personal questions targeted at Moitra were asked by Danish Ali and not by Chairman Vinod Sonkar. Mahua Moitra’s ‘Cheerharan’ (disrobing) is being done by her friends only.
These questions should be asked from Danish Ali and JD(U) MP Giridhari Yadav. Not from anyone else. But today, the few things that I understand from the media are that Draupadi’s Cheerharan is being done by the INDI alliance,” Dubey said in an interview with media.
Earlier on Thursday, the panel investigating the matter adopted the report with a 6:4 majority.
According to panel chairman Vinod Sonkar, six members of the committee supported the report, including Congress MP Preneet Kaur, while four members opposed it.
Earlier last month, Dubey approached Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla against Moitra, accusing her of asking questions in Lok Sabha to target the Adani Group at the behest of businessman Darshan Hiranandani in exchange for gifts.
As per the sources, the draft report on Mahua Moitra’s cash-for-questions case reveals that she visited the UAE four times from 2019 to 2023 while her login was accessed several times.
“On 47 occasions, her member portal login credentials were accessed from Dubai,” according to the draft report of the ethics committee.
The Ethics Committee had sought details reports from Information Technology (IT) and Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) regarding IP address and location. The committee had also sought MHA’s input on the dangers of sharing login credentials, emphasizing the legal consequences under Section IT ACT 2000.
The draft report is learnt to have suggested that “serious misdemeanours on the part of Mahua Moitra calls for severe punishment”.
“The Committee, therefore, recommends that Mahua Moitra, MP may be expelled from the Membership of the Seventeenth Lok Sabha. In view of the highly objectionable, unethical, heinous and criminal conduct of Mahua Moitra, the Committee recommend for an intense, legal, institutional inquiry by the Government of India in a time-bound manner,” the report is learnt to have said.
“‘Unethical Conduct’ and ‘Contempt of the House’ by Mahua Moitra by way of accepting money – cash and kind, amenities and various other facilities by Mahua Moitra, MP from Darshan Hiranandani, Business Tycoon, based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates,” it is learnt to have said.
The draft report spans approximately 500 pages.
