Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra on Friday said that she gave businessman Darshan Hiranandani access to her online Lok Sabha account but denied taking any bribes from him, reported The Indian Express.
Moitra is being questioned by the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee in connection with complaints by Bharatiya Janata Party MP Nishikant Dubey and advocate Jai Anand Dehadrai alleging that she took bribes from Hiranandani to ask questions in Parliament.
“No MP types her/his own question,” said Moitra. “I have given him [Hiranandani] the password and login for someone in his office to type it [the questions] down and upload.”
She said that the questions can only be submitted upon entering a one-time password, which is delivered to her phone number. Hence, said the Trinamool Congress leader, no question went on the Parliament website without her knowledge.
Her statement comes days after Dubey wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla seeking to have Moitra immediately suspended for allegedly taking bribes from Hiranandani to ask questions in Parliament.
Dubey cited a letter from Dehadrai, reportedly Moitra’s estranged partner, to claim that he had “irrefutable evidence” about her asking questions in Parliament in exchange for cash and gifts.
The Hiranandani Group initially dismissed Dubey’s allegations against Moitra as having “no merit”. However, Hiranandani, the chief executive officer of the real estate company, on October 19 submitted an affidavit to the ethics committee, accusing Moitra of spreading unverified information about industrialist Gautam Adani.
Moitra told The Indian Express that Dehadrai’s allegations were fake. “You have used a person with a failed personal relationship to file a fake complaint and you have put a gun to a friend of mine’s [Hiranandani’s] head to back it up,” she said. “But the two have to match…It is a bad hit job.”
She said that Hiranandani’s affidavit did not mention any cash. On allegations of receiving gifts for “protecting or perpetuating business interests” of Hiranandani, she said the businessman had given her “one Hermes scarf” on her birthday to the best of her knowledge.
“I asked the Bobbi Brown makeup set, he had got me a Mac eye shadow and bitten peach lipstick,” she said.
The Trinamool leader said that Hiranandani’s car picked her up from the airport and dropped her off whenever she was in Mumbai or Dubai. “I am telling you the exact truth and if Darshan can prove anything more than that,” she said. “There is no cash or anything else I have ever taken from him. I thrive upon my integrity.”
She also called the analysis by Dehadrai of the questions she asked in Parliament “laughable and rubbish”. The only thing she pleads guilty to, said Moitra, is having “terrible taste when it comes to choosing people in my personal circle”.
On Friday, Moitra sought to postpone her appearance before the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee, saying she has commitments till November 4. The panel summoned her to depose before it on October 31 in connection with Dubey’s complaints.
In a letter to the chairperson of the panel, she said that she has committed to attending Vijaya Dashami meetings from October 30 to November 4 in West Bengal, where Durga Puja is one of the biggest festivals.
After recording the oral testimonies of Dubey and Dehadrai on Thursday, the ethics committee asked the Ministry of Information Technology and the Ministry of Home Affairs to submit to it all the communication between Moitra, Hiranandani and Dehadrai.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!