‘Jilted ex’, politicians and businessman: The men TMC’s Mahua Moitra is up against

Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mahua Moitra is up against several men as she faces the heat over cash-for-query allegations. Armed with her three handbags, the MP from West Bengal’s Krishnanagar appeared before the Lok Sabha’s Ethics Committee on Thursday (2 November) to give oral evidence in the case. But what followed were stormy scenes of visibly upset Moitra and Opposition members on the panel walking out of the meeting. A political slugfest began after the Opposition MPs accused the panel of posing “undignified questions” to Moitra. Later in the evening, the TMC MP on X shared a letter she wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, accusing ethics panel chairman Vinod Kumar Sonkar of subjecting her to “proverbial vastraharan (disrobing) in the presence of all members of the committee”. As Mahua Moitra fights cash-for-query charges, let’s take a look at the men who are involved in the alleged case. Vinod Kumar Sonkar Sonkar is the BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh’s Kaushambi constituency. He is currently heading the Ethics Committee, whose members are appointed by the Lok Sabha Speaker for a period of one year. Moitra accused Vinod Sonkar of subjecting her to “unethical”, “sordid” and “prejudiced behaviour” during the meeting of the Ethics Committee in the cash-for-query matter on Thursday. In her letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker, she wrote the ethics panel chairman “insisted on following the most sordid line of questioning… in which he asked me detailed and extremely personal questions about my life.” Speaking to Indian Express, the TMC MP said that “sordid, indecent and personal comments” were made to her “such as who I speak to, how many times late at night, and if I can give my call details, why a certain friend X is dear to me, what does his wife feel about it, which hotel I stayed in the last five years and with whom, etc”. She further alleged that Sonkar continued such line of questioning “despite being repeatedly warned by the committee members to stick to propriety”. However, the Ethics Committee chairman has defended his questions, saying they were related to the “charges made against her by (businessman Darshan) Hiranandani and the allegations made against her by the complainant”.

#WATCH | On TMC MP Mahua Moitra, Vinod Sonkar, Chairman, Ethics Committee of Parliament, says, "...Only those questions were asked to Mahua Moitra on which there are allegations... She was given the right to give answers to those questions that she wanted, and not give those that… pic.twitter.com/JDwLDlHPfh

— ANI (@ANI) November 3, 2023

“The objective of this committee is to investigate the charges of unethical behaviour levelled against the MP. But she persistently tried to avoid answering the questions. She did not cooperate. Then she got angry and walked out, accusing the chairman and the committee of using unparliamentary language,” he told Indian Express. Nishikant Dubey BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, who has levelled charges against Moitra of taking “bribes” for asking questions in Parliament, hit out at the TMC leader on Thursday for creating a “misleading narrative” in the public about the proceedings of the ethics panel. “No power can save Moitra after all evidence provided by me and others against her,” he told reporters. The cash-for-query row began when the MP from Jharkhand’s Godda constituency wrote to the Lok Sabha Speaker on 15 October, accusing Moitra of accepting “bribes” from a businessman to raise questions in Parliament to “protect interest of a business group”. Dubey claimed he had received documents from advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai, who he claimed had “shared irrefutable evidence of bribes exchanged” between the TMC MP and a businessman to “ask questions in Parliament”. In his complaint to the Speaker, the BJP MP accused Moitra of receiving “cash” and “gifts” from businessman Darshan Hiranandani to ask questions in Parliament targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and entrepreneur Gautam Adani. Later, Speaker Birla referred Dubey’s complaint against Mahua Moitra to the Ethics Committee of Lok Sabha. [caption id=“attachment_13342312” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Nishikant Dubey has accused TMC MP Mahua Moitra of taking ‘bribes’ to ask questions in Parliament. PTI File Photo[/caption] Dubey also wrote to IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, accusing Moitra of sharing her Lok Sabha login credentials with Hiranandani and the Hiranandani conglomerate, which he said “poses a direct threat to national security”. The TMC MP has admitted to sharing her Parliament login and password details with Hiranandani. However, she also pointed out to The Telegraph in an interview that the “portal id, for all MPs, and I say this with emphasis, the practice is for secretarial and support staff and interns to use it to put up questions, etc. All MPs do this, the login is shared, it is not some great secret that will open some threat to national security.” Darshan Hiranandani He is the CEO of the well-known real estate conglomerate Hiranandani Group. The firm has developed many residential and commercial properties, including IT parks, townships, and other infrastructure projects, reported Hindustan Times (HT). After Hiranandani’s name cropped up, he claimed in an affidavit that Moitra shared her Parliament login and password with him to pose questions targeting the Adani group. He also alleged the TMC MP “made frequent demands” including “expensive luxury items and logistical help for her holidays.” In an interview to Times Now, Darshan, the son of Niranjan Hiranandani, said he used Moitra’s Parliament ID to “post questions from Dubai”, calling his actions a “crazy error of judgement and deeply regrettable”. The TMC MP denies receiving cash or expensive gifts from him. Moitra, who has described Hiranandani as a “very good friend”, told India Today that all she got was “one scarf (on her birthday), one lipstick and one eye shadow”. She has also snubbed charges that Hiranandani funded the renovation of her bungalow. Jai Anant Dehadrai Moitra has called Dehadrai her “jilted ex” with whom she has an “acrimonious personal history”. Dehadrai is a Supreme Court lawyer who complained to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), alleging Moitra of taking “bribes” to pose questions in Parliament. [caption id=“attachment_13342422” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai appeared for the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee meeting on cash-for-query allegation against Mahua Moitra on 26 October. PTI[/caption] As per PTI, Moitra has filed several police complaints against him in the last six months for alleged criminal trespass, theft, vulgar messages and abuse. The ex-partners are also involved in a bitter tussle over the custody of their pet Rottweiler, Henry. Dehadrai previously alleged there was an attempt to “coerce” him to withdraw his CBI complaint in exchange for Henry. Moitra has maintained Dehadrai and Dubey have no evidence of bribery against her, while underlining that Hiranandani did not mention any cash transactions in his affidavit to the Ethics Committee. With inputs from agencies