TMC MP Mahua Moitra blames 'sour personal relationship' for cash-for-query row

The Lok Sabha ethics committee is probing the cash-for-query allegations against the TMC MP from West Bengal's Krishnanagar constituency. Moitra was summoned on the basis of reports received from three ministries along with documents and evidence.

Earlier, she had said the complaint was the result of her relationship going bad with Supreme Court lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai, who filed the complaint with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), and who she referred to as her "jilted ex".

As per a report in the media, Moitra mostly dwelled on her relationship with Dehadrai as she appeared to blame him for leaks and the allegations.

Moitra received backing from some opposition members, including N Uttam Kumar Reddy from the Congress and Danish Ali from the Bahujan Samaj Party. On the other hand, a few BJP members, including VD Sharma, urged her to address the substantial aspects of the allegations rather than focusing solely on the deterioration of personal relationships.

While Moitra has denied the cash-for-query accusations, she did acknowledge providing her parliamentary login credentials to businessman Darshan Hiranandani.

According to the report, opposition MPs in the ethics committee supported her during the proceedings today. They asserted that the login information was only used for submitting questions and that there were no national security concerns involved.

The opposition MPs inquired whether every MP independently submits questions without any assistance, the report said.

Meanwhile, a Times of India report said, citing sources that nearly 47 log-ins to her parliamentary account were made from the Dubai office of businessman Darshan Hiranandani.

Following the complaint filed by the Supreme Court lawyer, whom Moitra referred to as her "jilted ex," with the CBI, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey led the push to investigate the claim that Moitra provided her parliamentary login information to Hiranandani with the intention of targeting the Adani Group and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The ethics committee hearing has been reinforced following Hiranandani's explosive affidavit. While he did not address the cash-for-query issue, he did admit to submitting questions using Moitra's parliamentary login.

If proven true, this would constitute a breach of parliamentary privilege and could lead to her expulsion from the house.

In his affidavit, Hiranandani stated that the gifts he gave to Moitra were in response to her demands, as she wanted to politically target PM Modi through the Adani Group.