Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra has alleged that billionaire businessman Gautam Adani tried to bribe her not to ask questions in Parliament. “Adani approached me via two Lok Sabha MPs in the last three years to sit across the table with him and work out a deal I have refused. The issue is, he was giving cash to not ask questions,” she told Rajdeep Sardesai.
Regarding the row over her friend and businessman Darshan Hiranandani using her Parliament login to key questions, Mahua said, "No MPs put in questions themselves, The NIC login is being made out to be some great secret which can be used to access RBI vaults or budget documents before it is placed. NIC login only helps in putting questions and an OTP is also sent on the mobile phone when this is done. Most of the time, it is the PA's or interns of the MPs who type in the questions. Most MPs do not even know what the questions are. All the login and password are with their team.”
She further said, “I asked Darshan for help from someone from his office to help me type in the question. The OTP will then come to my mobile only. I'm one of the very few MP's who puts in the questions myself and that is why the number of questions asked by me in the parliament is lesser than the average of the questions asked by other parliamentarians. So basically someone in Darshan's office helped in typing the question. The OTP comes to me and only after I give the OTP can the question be submitted. So the idea that Darshan could login to my account and put in his own questions is ludicrous."
Mahua also said in the interview that the ‘luxury items’ that Darshan Hiranandani claims he gifted her were a couple of lipsticks bought at a duty free shop and a scarf. She also said that she asked Darshan Hiranandani if an architect in his office could help her renovate her official bungalow. “He gave me the architect's drawings. The renovation was done by the Central Public Works Department and not by any private contractor,” she said.
The Ethics Committee of the Parliament meanwhile has summoned Mahua Moitra to appear before it on October 31, but she has said that she will depose on any date post November 5 after her pre-scheduled constituency programmes end.
Mahua said, "Chairman, Ethics Comm announced my 31/10 summons on live TV way before the official letter emailed to me at 19:20 hrs. All complaints and suo moto affidavits were also released to the media. I look forward to deposing immediately after my pre-scheduled constituency programmes end on November 4."
She also attached her two page letter to Vinod Sonkar, Chairman of the Ethics Committee, in which she mentioned that she received a letter dated October 26 asking her to be present on October 31 before the Committee in connection with "Oral evidence of her in respect of complaint dated October 15 given by Nishikant Dubey, MP against her for alleged direct involvement in 'cash for query' in Parliament".
"As the Committee may recall, I expressed my eagerness, vide a letter dated 23 October, to be given 'a fair hearing and an adequate opportunity to defend myself against' the false, malicious and defamatory accusations levelled against me by Dubey and (Jai Anant) Dehadrai," she said.
She said, "The Committee against the order of natural justice, if I may humbly add - summoned and heard the complainants Dubey and Dehadrai on Thursday before allowing me, the alleged accused, a chance to be heard."
She also cited the example of BJP south Delhi MP Ramesh Biduri, who, when summoned by the Privileges Committee on October 10, had requested more time since he had pre-fixed political meetings in Rajasthan, and was accorded a similar courtesy by this same branch.
"I eagerly look forward to physically attending and presenting my defence against the slanderous charges levelled against me at the next date provided by you," she said.
The Trinamool Congress leader further said that an affidavit notarised at the Indian High Commission in Dubai on October 20 was submitted on a suo moto basis to the Committee and released publicly to the media by Darshan Hiranandani, an Indian citizen.
She said that Hiranandani in a public interview to a news channel on October 23 expressed his willingness to appear before the committee.
"His affidavit available in the public domain, is extremely scant on detail and provides no actual inventory of what he has allegedly given me. Given the seriousness of the allegations and in keeping with the principles of natural justice, it is imperative that I am allowed to exercise my right to cross-examine Hiranandani," she said.
"It is also imperative that he appear before the committee and provide a detailed verified list of the alleged gifts and favours he allegedly provided to me," Moitra said.
She further said that she wish to place on record that any inquiry without the oral evidence of Hiranandani will be incomplete, unfair and akin to holding a proverbial "kangaroo court" and that he too will need to be called to depose before the Committee before it prepares its final report.
She asserted that she has an impeccable record of personal integrity and honesty both while serving as an MLA in the state legislature as well as an MP in the 17th Lok Sabha. "Given that I am a vocal member of the Opposition responsible for raising my voice against various corporate scams and issues pertaining to national importance, it is vital for the fabric of Indian democracy that I am allowed to defend myself and clear my name in the face of this motivated and malicious slander campaign against me," Moitra said.