Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Nov 13: Demonstrating that the party has not abandoned her as was being campaigned by the BJP, the Trinamool Congress on Monday appointed the “cash for query” accused Member of Parliament Mahua Moitra as the party district president of Krishnanagar (Nadia North) which falls under her Lok Sabha constituency.
Though she was among 15 new district presidents appointed by the party, the move is seen is aimed at giving a clear message to the rival BJP that she had not been deserted by the party as was the campaign launched by the saffron party in the wake of the charges levelled against her and the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee having reportedly recommended her
It is the first time she was given a post in the party organisation led by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee amid a huge controversy in the cash-for-query case against the Bengal MP. She thanked Ms Banerjee and her party in a post on X. “Thank you, Mamata Banerjee and AITC (All India Trinamool Congress) for appointing me district president of Krishnanagar (Nadia North). Will always work with the party for the people of Krishnanagar,” Ms Moitra said in the post.
The Trinamool Congress was seen to be closely watching the developments in the cash-for-query case against Ms Moitra, without wading into publicly defending her though most of the party leaders had maintained that she was capable to handle her case in her own way. The party’s move to give her charge of a district in her own constituency is being seen as an indication that the Trinamool considers her one of their most important leaders.
The ethics committee, after hearing Ms Moitra in a closed-door meeting from which she and opposition MPs walked out over the manner of questioning, in its 500-page report to the Lok Sabha Speaker said she should not be allowed to continue as an MP and her membership should be terminated. The committee called Ms Moitra’s actions “highly objectionable, unethical, heinous and criminal”, and sought severe punishment.
The 500-page report which was submitted to the speaker’s office, the committee has also recommended that a “legal, intensive, institutional and time-bound investigation” be held into the entire matter. The committee concluded Ms Moitra had shared user ID with “unauthorised persons”, took cash and amenities from businessman Darshan Hiranandani and it was a “serious misdemeanour” on her part which calls for “serious punishment.”
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey – who had flagged the matter to the Lok Sabha Speaker — has said the anti-corruption body Lokpal has ordered a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the corruption allegations against Ms Moitra.
The BJP MP had alleged that Ms Moitra accepted cash from businessman Darshan Hiranandani to ask questions in parliament on his behalf to target Prime Minister Narendra Modi and business rival Adani Group. He also claimed that Ms Moitra, by sharing her parliamentary login with the businessman, has compromised national security.
Ms Moitra had admitted to it, but claimed there is no regulation governing sharing of login and password. Ahead of her hearing with the Ethics Committee, she had written them a letter, questioning “Why these rules are not shared with MPs.”
The Parliamentary Ethics Committee questioning of Mahua Moitra — which the Trinamool MP had claimed involved “extremely personal and derogatory questions” — was an attempt to ascertain facts that were flagged in submissions by the Union home ministry and the IT ministry, sources have said. Ms Moitra had walked out of the November 2 meeting with some Opposition members of the committee, refusing to answer the questions of committee chairman Vinod Sonkar.
Ms Moitra had indicated that the questions pertained to her relationship with industrialist Darshan Hiranandani, who has been accused of giving bribes in exchange for parliament questions to perpetuate his business interests.
Sources said the report underscored that the questions asked were based on submissions made by various departments on the alleged unethical conduct of Ms Moitra. The crux of the login-sharing lay in the discrepancy between Ms Moitra’s visits to Dubai and the huge number of times her login was accessed from there.
According to the committee report, Mahua Moitra’s account was operated 47 times from United Arab Emirates between July 2019 and April 2023. But between 2019 and September 2023, she had visited UAE only four times. Her Parliament id had 47 logins from Dubai, all from one IP address.
Even before the questioning by the Ethics Committee, Ms Moitra had admitted to sharing her parliamentary login, but claimed there is no regulation governing this. Ahead of her hearing with the Ethics Committee, she had also written to them, questioning why these rules “are not shared with MPs.”
Ms Moitra had dismissed the “cash for query” charges saying she was being specifically targeted because she was one of the very few who stood up against the “bullies running this government” and have been playing an integral role in exposing (Gautam) Adani and the nexus that he runs with Mr Modi and this government.