Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Oct 22: The Trinamool Congress, the ruling party in West Bengal, seems to have distanced itself from the allegations against its Lok Sabha member Mahua Moitra of having taken bribe from a private company for asking questions in Parliament to corner the Adani group and target the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“We have nothing to say… The party has nothing to say at this point of time,” Trinamool Congress (TMC) spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said, when asked about the allegations on Saturday. Mr Ghosh added that only Ms Moitra, against whom the allegations were made, could comment on the issue, not the party.
The party member of the Rajya Sabha and senior member Derek O’Brien also gave a similar response and said the party would take a decision on support to Ms Moitra only after the Parliamentary panel tasked with the investigation into the allegations against Ms Moitra completed its work. “The Trinamool Congress leadership will take an appropriate decision regarding the allegations against its MP Mahua Moitra after the Parliamentary panel probing the matter completes its investigation, O’Brien said on Sunday.
Ms Moitra has been accused of receiving cash and expensive gifts from businessman Darshan Hiranandani for asking questions in parliament. BJP MP Nishikant Dubey has written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, seeking an investigation into allegations that Ms Moitra received bribes from the businessman and also shared her parliament login credentials. The Trinamool MP has trashed the allegations.
Responding to a question on the massive row, Mr O’Brien said the party has “observed reports in the media. The member concerned has been advised by the party leadership to clarify her position regarding the allegations levelled against her. She has already done that. However, since the matter has to do with an elected MP, her rights and privileges, let the matter be investigated by the right forum of Parliament, after which the party leadership will take an appropriate decision,” he said.
The TMC”s decision to distance itself from the charges against Ms Moitra is also learnt to have links with the Adani group. The TMC was developing good business terms with the Adani group and was learnt to be not happy about Ms Moitra targeting the group. The TMC’s decision to distance itself from the Krishnanagar MP has also not come as a surprise; Ms Moitra, though popular in Delhi’s political circles, is not influential as far as the party organisation is concerned. Though she served as an MLA from Karimpur in Nadia from 2016 to 2019, she never got any ministerial post in the State government or any key post in the party organisation.
Sources in the party say that the MP’s criticism of the Adani group not gone down well with the leadership. The TMC government of West Bengal is going ahead with the development of Tajpur port by the Adani Group, and a Letter of Intent has been issued for development of the deep sea port as well. The deep sea port located off Tajpur, around 170 km from Kolkata, will have a deep draft of 12.1 metres. The project will entail an investment of ₹15,000 crore, and is expected to create 25,000 jobs directly, apart from providing indirect employment for about a lakh more people, according to a government document.
In fact, the TMC has consistently chosen not to comment on allegations of personal wrongdoing against most of its leaders. When allegations of corruption in a real estate project were recently levelled against another TMC MP Nusrat Jahan, and she was summoned for questioning by the Enforcement Directorate, the party maintained its silence.
“It is not surprising that Mamata Banerjee has abandoned Mahua Moitra. She will defend no one else but Abhishek Banerjee, who is no less delinquent,” BJP leader and head of party’s IT cell Amit Malaviya posted on X. “Several TMC leaders are in jail on serious corruption and criminal charges but Mamata Banerjee has maintained radio silence,” he added.
Mr NIshikant Dubey, BJP MP from Godda, who first lodged the charge against Ms Moitra and wrote a letter to the Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla fo investigation, has also sought a Lokpal probe against the Trinamool MP. He has said he is in possession of a letter by Supreme Court lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai detailing “disturbing facts with detailed proof.” “In the letter, Mr Dehadrai provides in great detail how, when and where Ms Moitra received bribes from a businessman Sh Darshan Hiranandani,” the BJP MP’s complaint said.
Darshan Hiranandani has claimed in an affidavit that Ms Moitra asked him for various favours, including expensive luxury items. The businessman also alleged that the MP had given him her parliament login credentials and that she saw attacking the Adani Group as a way to become famous.