BJP MP Nishikant Dubey has accused Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra of taking bribes to ask questions in Parliament. He has alleged that Moitra was paid money and gifts by businessman Darshan Hiranandani to ask questions on Adani Group and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Dubey has written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, accusing Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra of breach of parliamentary privilege, contempt of the House and criminal conspiracy.
Moitra has denied all of the allegations, saying that she is ready to face any kind of inquiry. Hiranandani Group has also denied the allegations, saying that they have no merit and that they have always been in the business of business and not in the business of politics.
"We have always been in the business of business and not in the business of politics. Our group has always worked with the government in the interest of the nation and will continue doing so," NDTV quoted a spokesperson of the Hiranandani Group as saying.
Dubey claimed that the Trinamool MP Moitra has been mistakingly defending the business interests of the Hiranandani Group in their contentious energy and infrastructural contract loss to the Adani Group. According to Dubey, these allegations were substantiated citing that Hiranandani allegedly appeased Moitra with Rs 2 crore alongside lavish gifts such as an expensive iPhone.
Dubey further alleged that between 2019 and 2023, fifty out of sixty-one questions asked by the parliamentarian were allegedly raised at Hiranandani's behest. According to Dubey's allegations, Moitra granted Hiranandani direct access to her official Lok Sabha account for regularly posting parliamentary inquiries, either directly or on his behest. The counsel has approached the CBI with some of his claims.
In his letter, he also mentioned the 2005 cash for questions scandal, in which 11 MPs were suspended in a "record time of 23 days," and added that the current scenario is nothing more than a "re-emergence of the cash for query." Moitra, he added, should be suspended from the House immediately awaiting an investigation.