New Delhi: Hours after she stormed out of a Lok Sabha Ethics Committee meeting along with other Opposition MPs, TMC leader Mahua Moitra Thursday wrote a scathing letter to Speaker Om Birla saying that committee chairperson and BJP MP Vijay Kumar Sonkar subjected her to “the proverbial vastraharan” in the presence of all members of the panel.
In her letter, which she posted on social media platform X, Moitra said she faced “unethical, sordid, and prejudiced behaviour” at the meeting, where she had appeared for questioning in connection with the cash-for-query charges levelled against her.
My letter emailed to the Honourable @loksabhaspeaker pic.twitter.com/2wGlWTTej6
— Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) November 2, 2023
The TMC MP further wrote in her letter to the Speaker that the panel ought to designate itself under another name as it has no ethics or morality left.
Urging protection from the Speaker from being subjected to “personal humiliation and malicious conduct”, Moitra wrote, “Sir, this government under the leadership of the Honourable Prime Minister claims to do everything possible to respect women and uphold their dignity…How shameful is it then that I, as one of only 78 female members of the Lok Sabha are subjected to a ‘Vastraharan’ in the name of an Ethics Committee hearing by the chairperson of the committee.”
Moitra and other Opposition MPs have alleged that she was asked “filthy”, “personal” and “motivated” questions by Sonkar.
Moitra, who has been accused by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey of receiving “cash and gifts” from industrialist Darshan Hiranandani for raising questions on the Adani Group in Parliament, walked out of the ethics committee meeting along with five Opposition MPs — BSP’s Danish Ali, Giridhari Yadav of Janata Dal (United), Congress’s Uttam Kumar Reddy and V. Vaithilingam and P.R. Natarajan of CPI(M), all members of the panel.
An Opposition MP who was present in the meeting told ThePrint on condition of anonymity that it was the “motivated questioning” Sonkar subjected Moitra to post lunch that led to her and MPs to storm out of the meeting.
“She was asked by Sonkar about how many times she had made calls to Darshan Hiranandani in Dubai between 2019 and 2023 and who she stayed with when she went to Mumbai and Dubai. How can you ask such personal questions to a woman MP? How is it linked to the case in hand? It was all motivated questioning. The BJP leaders just wanted to establish some connection between Moitra and Hiranandani,” the MP said.
In her letter to Birla, Moitra said that privacy is a fundamental right according to the Supreme Court. “Humiliating a female MP by asking irrelevant questions — one of these for example was on who I speak to at night, how many times and asking for those call details — is a breach of my fundamental right to privacy, apart from being in extremely poor taste.”
ThePrint reached Sonkar for a comment on the Opposition MP’s allegations via calls. This report will be updated if and when a response is received. However, speaking to reporters at the Parliament Annexe Building soon after the meeting got over, Sonkar told reporters, “Instead of giving answers, she (Moitra) got angry and used unparliamentary language for the chairperson, and committee members. Danish Ali, Girdhari Yadav and other Opposition MPs tried to accuse the committee and walked out…The committee will sit and decide the further action.”
In an affidavit filed before the committee, Hiranandani has accused Moitra of spreading unverified information about Gautam Adani to “attack PM Modi”. Moitra, however, has dismissed the affidavit, saying Hiranandani had been coerced to write it.
The ethics committee had also asked the IT and home ministries to assist with details about the conversations between Moitra, Hiranandani and Dehadrai.
Also Read: Mahua Moitra’s bagwati moment. She’s fighting back with not one but 3 handbags
What Moitra said on Dubai & Dehadrai
A second Opposition MP who was present at the meeting said that while Moitra refused to answer the question about how many times she made phone calls to Hiranandani since 2019 saying it was a “personal matter”, she did tell Sonkar that she has visited Dubai 5-6 times since 2019 to attend family and friends’ functions.
“She told Sonkar that neither was she hosted by Hiranandani in any of the visits nor did she receive any monetary benefit from him. She, however, said that whenever she visited Mumbai or Dubai, she was provided a chauffeur-driven car by Hiranandani to move around,” the MP told ThePrint.
However, when the ethics committee chairman continued his questioning on the allegations levelled by Hiranandani in his affidavit that was submitted to him, Moitra said she was being subjected to “unethical” questions, the MP further said.
Opposition MPs who were also protesting against the questions Moitra was asked by the panel requested for the meeting to be adjourned.
“At this point, the five BJP MPs who are members of the ethics committee were called for voting to decide whether the meeting should proceed or be adjourned. While 5 Opposition MPs were present in the meeting, along with Sonkar, there were six BJP MPs who voted for the meeting to continue. We then decided to walk out,” the second Opposition MP quoted earlier said.
The meeting, which continued for close to five hours, started at 11.30 am. A third opposition MP who attended it said Moitra replied to the allegations levelled by her former partner and advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai and Hiranandani point by point.
“She informed the committee that her relationship with Dehadrai had soured, leading to the latter levelling the charges against her. She also admitted to giving the password of her MP’s portal to the office staff of Hiranandani,” the first Opposition MP quoted earlier said.
When BJP MPs questioned Moitra about violating parliamentary norms by giving the login ID and password of her MP’s portal to an outsider, Opposition MPs came out in support of her, saying there was no violation, the MP further said. “The MPs told the panel that there are 700 MPs and almost all of them give the password of their MP portal to their office staff, aide or family members for operating the portal on their behalf. It happens with the MPs authorisation because whenever somebody logs in to the portal, an OTP comes to the MP’s phone. Without the MPs authorisation, no one can use the portal.”
The Opposition MP further said that the MP’s portal was launched in 2019 and no rules/guidelines have been issued so far regarding violations. “There is no rule which says that one cannot access the portal from a foreign country.”
In her letter to Birla, Moitra admitted she had used secretarial help from Hiranandani’s office in typing her parliamentary questions for submission to the portal. “It is important to note that the portal is not the same as the Lok Sabha email or password which I have not shared with anybody, hence there is no question of misuse of my official email,” she wrote.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
Also Read: Mahua Moitra is ‘jack-in-the-box’ without a godfather. Her entire life choices are on trial