Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, who walked out of the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee meeting on Thursday during a hearing on the cash-for-query allegations against her, wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on the same day. In her letter, she alleged that she experienced “Proverbial Vastraharan” by the panel chairman in the presence of all committee members, along with “unethical, sordid, demeaning, and prejudiced behavior” during the meeting.
She, along with opposition members of the panel, exited the meeting on Thursday afternoon, raising concerns about the line of questioning and asserting that “personal questions” had been directed at her as a TMC MP.
Moitra likened the incident to “proverbial vastraharan (stripping),” drawing parallels to the Mahabharata where Kauravas humiliated Draupadi, the queen of Pandavas, in the darbar.
Furthermore, in her letter, Moitra accused the chairman of exhibiting a preconceived bias by asking her malicious and defamatory questions, instead of relevant questions related to the subject.
Also Read: Mahua Moitra appears before Lok Sabha ethics panel in cash-for-query row
The letter stated, “The Committee ought to designate itself under a name other than the Ethics Committee as it has no ethics and morality left. Instead of asking questions pertinent to the subject, the Chairman exhibited a preconceived bias by asking me malicious and defamatory questions, so much so that 5 of the 11 members present walked out and boycotted the proceedings in protest at his shameful conduct,” she said in the letter.
Regarding the sharing of login and password for the portal to type out questions, the TMC MP also requested the Lok Sabha Secretariat to disclose the regulations governing it, adding, “I request the Lok Sabha Secretariat to please disclose the regulations governing the sharing of one’s login and password of the portal to merely type out questions (where nothing could be submitted without an OTP which came to my mobile phone),” she said.
Also Read:‘Filthy, unethical questions’: Mahua Moitra, oppn MPs storm out of ethics panel hearing
“Why were these rules never given to MPs, and if they were, why is every single MP sharing this ID and login with numerous people? Where was this Ethics Committee’s conscience when the government used the Israeli software Pegasus to spy on the judiciary, independent journalists, and members of the opposition members? Was this not a grievous breach of national security? Why did this Committee not meet even once since July 2021 in the face of so many instances of unethical conduct by members of the ruling party?” the TMC MP added.
She said that she repeatedly protested on record regarding the questions the Chairman was welcome to ask, but after more than two hours of irrelevant questioning, five members of the Committee boycotted the proceeding and walked out.
“On my part, I repeatedly protested on record that while the Chairman was welcome to ask me any question relevant to the inquiry — namely on the login and on those allegations of gifts for which evidence, or rather complete lack of it, existed — he could not ask me detailed personal questions making insinuations about my dignity as a woman,” she said.
In her letter, Moitra mentioned that enduring this distressing line of questioning for over two hours was a violation of her personal dignity and rights. It became apparent that the Chairman derived perverse pleasure from his words.
“At the very onset I would like to state that the complainant has provided NO evidence of any cash, the alleged ‘bribe-giver’ Hiranandani has made NO mention of any cash in his suo-moto affidavit. In respect of gifts, I have already stated on record publicly and in the Committee that Hiranandani is a close friend from before I became an MP. The sum total of all the gifts I have received from him is one scarf, some items of make-up, use of a car and a driver when I have visited Bombay on maybe four to five occasions in the past 5 years and maybe twice in Dubai and a set of very basic architectural drawings/advice on making my government accommodation vastu compliant which were then executed by the engineers and contractors of the CPWD (a government unit) with no payment made by Hiranandani or anyone else apart from the CPWD,” Mahua said in her letter.
She said that she had used secretarial help from Hiranandani’s office in typing out my parliamentary questions for submission to the portal and notably this portal is not the same as the Lok Sabha email or password which she has not shared with anybody.
The TMC MP explained that since 2019, she had been receiving support from Hiranandani’s office to type her parliamentary questions. She mentioned that she personally drafted these questions and sent them for portal submission. Notably, she pointed out that her Lok Sabha email and password remained undisclosed to others, thus eliminating the potential for misuse. She highlighted that every question required her approval, as the final OTP was directed to her mobile number, ensuring that no unauthorized submissions took place. She also noted that such practices were standard among MPs, who often had teams with portal access.
‘Cash-for-query’ row
Moitra is facing ‘cash-for-query’ allegations made by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, who alleged that the Trinamool MP had taken bribes from Dubai-based businessman Hiranandani to raise questions in Parliament to target the Adani Group.
Dubey had written a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla last month titled “Re-emergence of nasty ‘Cash for Query’ in Parliament”, seeking a probe into his allegations. He also claimed that Advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai had provided him with proof of alleged bribes. Both Dubey and Jai Dehadrai have appeared before the Ethics Committee earlier.
Moitra appeared before the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee over cash-for-query allegations against her. She and opposition members of the panel “walked out” of the meeting on Thursday afternoon.