Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra on Friday stated that she will not appear before the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee on October 31 in response to the cash-for-query allegations made by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey. Instead, she will appear after November 5.
Dubey had previously informed the Ethics Committee that it was a straightforward case, and he called for Moitra’s disqualification. The TMC MP also wrote a letter to the Chairman of the Ethics Committee and requested more time to appear before the committee.
“I represent the state of West Bengal where Durga Puja is the biggest festival. I am already committed to attending numerous pre-scheduled Vijaya Dashami Sammelans/meetings (both government and political) in my constituency from October 30 to November 4, 2023, and cannot be in Delhi on October 31, 2023,” the TMC MP said in the letter. “Therefore, I request to be given time to appear in person before the committee at any date and time of the Committee’s choice after November 5, 2023,” she added. Moitra also mentioned the example of BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri, who was summoned by the Lok Sabha’s Privileges Committee on October 10 but was later permitted to appear at a later time as per his request. “As a recent example, Ramesh Biduri, MP who was summoned by the Privileges Committee on October 10, 2023, requested more time since he had pre-fixed political meetings in Rajasthan and was accorded a similar courtesy by this same branch,” she said. On Thursday, Dubey and advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai provided “oral evidence” to the committee against the TMC MP. Committee chairperson Vinod Kumar Sonkar stated that the committee would also seek assistance from the ministries of home affairs and IT in investigating the allegations. The committee is headed by Sonkar, a BJP MP, and also includes Vishnu Datt Sharma, Sumedhanand Saraswati, Aparajita Sarangi, Rajdeep Roy, Sunita Duggal, and Subhash Bhamre of the BJP; Ve Vaithilingam, N Uttam Kumar Reddy, and Preneet Kaur of the Congress; Balashowry Vallabbhaneni (YSRCP); Hemant Godse (Shiv Sena); Giridhari Yadav (JD-U); P R Natarajan (CPI-M); and Kunwar Danish Ali (BSP).