Bharatiya Janata Party MP Nishikant Dubey on Saturday filed a complaint against Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra with the Lokpal, alleging that she engaged in “rampant corruption” and misused her public office, NDTV reported.
Dubey cited a letter written by Jai Anant Dehadrai, reportedly Moitra’s estranged partner, which he said laid out “disturbing facts with detailed proof” against the Trinamool Congress leader.
“The said letter clearly mentions how Ms. Mahua Moitra has received Rs 2 crore in cash from [businessman] Darshan Hiranandani both in Indian currency and foreign currency for asking questions in Parliament,” the letter to the anti-corruption body said.
Dubey said Dehadrai’s letter also referred to Hiranandani having access to Moitra’s Lok Sabha login credentials. The businessman claimed that she gave him the credentials so that he could post questions directly on her behalf when required, including at times when she was abroad.
Hiranandani had made the claim in an affidavit submitted to the Lok Sabha ethics committee on Thursday. In the document, he had claimed that Moitra “thought that the only way to attack [Prime Minister Narendra] Modi is by attacking [industrialist] Gautam Adani and his group as both were contemporaries, and they belong to the same state of Gujarat”.
The Trinamool Congress MP, however, said that the contents of the letter were “a joke” and remarked that it appeared to have been drafted by the prime minister’s office.
Dubey on Saturday said that Hiranandani’s letter left no doubt that Moitra had been engaging in “rampant corruption” and had acquired wealth by corrupt practices.
“She has been accepting huge sums of money as illegal gratification and, thus, it is a clear case of misuse of public office and criminal misconduct,” the BJP leader’s complaint said, according to NDTV. By misusing her offices and position as an MP, Ms. Mahua Moitra has obtained valuable properties and thus squarely falls under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.”
Moitra, on her part, claimed in a social media post that she got a message about an impending raid by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
“I am busy with Durga Puja,” she said. “I invite CBI to come home and count my pairs of shoes. But first please file FIR into Rs 13,000 crore coal money Adani stole from Indians.”
Later on Saturday, the Trinamool Congress refused to comment on the allegations and said that Moitra could respond to them herself.
“Regarding this particular issue, All India Trinamool Congress will not say a single word,” party spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said, according to ANI. “...The related person may explain or answer the issues.”
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