BJP MP Nishikant Dubey launched a fresh salvo on
Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra’s degree taunt at him and over charges
of accepting bribes against her from a businessman in exchange for raising
questions on the Adani issue in Parliament.
He said the question was not about the Adani issue or ‘fake
degree’, an old jibe against him by Moitra, but “about your corruption by
misleading the country”.
In a tweet in Hindi, Dubey wrote, “The question is
about Parliament’s decorum, national security and about the MP’s propriety,
corruption and criminality. She has to answer if NIC mails were accessed in
Dubai, whether questions were asked for money and who covered expenses for
trips abroad. She has to answer if she took the permission of the Lok Sabha
Speaker and External Affairs Ministry for her trips.”
“The question is not about Adani, degree or theft, but
about your corruption by misleading the country,” he said, adding hashtags of “degree
wali desh beche” (degree holder sells the country) and “chand paise ke liye
jamir beche” (she sold her conscience for money).
A controversy erupted when Dubey accused Moitra of “asking
questions in Parliament in exchange for cash and gifts” from businessman
Darshan Hiranandani on October 15.
He urged Speaker Om Birla to form an inquiry committee
to look into the charges against her. Birla has referred Dubey’s complaint to
Parliament’s Ethics Committee.
Citing a letter he received from Supreme Court lawyer Jai
Anant Dehadrai, who is the estranged partner of Moitra, Dubey said the advocate
shared “irrefutable” evidence of bribes being given to Moitra.
In his letter to Birla, Dubey claimed 50 of 61
questions she asked in the Lok Sabha till recently were focused on the Adani
Group, the business conglomerate which the TMC MP has often accused of
malpractices, more so, after it was at the receiving end of a critical report
by short-seller Hindenburg Research.
The row intensified with the firebrand TMC leader
blaming a “Fake Degree MP” and her “jilted ex” for the controversy.
Darshan Hiranandani, the CEO of real estate-to-energy
group Hiranandani, recently claimed in a letter that Moitra targeted Gautam
Adani to “malign and embarrass Prime Minister Narendra Modi whose impeccable
reputation gave opposition no opportunity to attack him”.
Moitra, however, raised questions over the credibility
of Hiranandani’s affidavit, alleging that it was “drafted by the PMO” and he
was forced to sign it after being “threatened” with a “total shutdown” of his
family’s businesses.
The TMC said it would take a decision on the matter
after the Parliamentary Ethics Committee completes its probe.
NE Watch Desk
