As Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra’s ‘cash for query’ scam gets exposed more and more every day, her party has maintained a distance from the scandal. On 21st October (Saturday), the TMC declined to comment on the alleged scam involving of its Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra. Speaking to ANI, TMC State General Secretary Kunal Ghosh asserted that the party has nothing to say on the allegations levelled against Moitra.
Speaking on behalf of the party, he maintained silence on the particular issue. Ghosh said, “..No comments on this particular issue. We have nothing to say on this issue. Regarding this issue, the All India Trinamool Congress will not say a single word. The related person may answer this, not the TMC party.”
#WATCH | West Bengal | Allegations of bribery against TMC MP Mahua Moitra: TMC State General Secretary Kunal Ghosh says, "…No comments…Regarding this issue, the TMC will not say anything… The related person may answer this, not the TMC party…" pic.twitter.com/uIqFZSeDE1
— ANI (@ANI) October 21, 2023
Similarly, another senior TMC leader, on the condition of anonymity, told PTI that Trinamool Congress is unwilling to get into a controversy and thus “will be maintaining distance from it.” However, the TMC has not taken action against her or sacked her from the party either.
Another vocal face of the TMC, Derek O’Brein, who has been active on social media and defends even fake news peddlers like party MP Saket Gokhale, has also maintained an eerie silence on this issue. Rather he has been speaking actively on the queer issues.
It is important to note that in the past several years, Moitra had been the vocal face of TMC on the national stage but the party has maintained distance from her ever since the cash-for-query allegations were levelled against the TMC leader.
Following the development, BJP leader Rahul Sinha asserted that the TMC can’t shrug off its responsibility by distancing itself from Mahua Moitra.
He said, “The TMC always tries to shrug off its responsibility whenever its leaders are either arrested or land into trouble. The TMC needs to explain whether it supports Mahua Moitra or not.”
Meanwhile, TMC Lok Sabha MP from Krishnanagar, Mahua Moitra has been actively tweeting over the issue claiming innocence in the Mahuagate. In a series of tweets on 21st October, she expressed her frustration over the current allegations against her and made various claims in this regard.
However, she didn’t deny taking luxury gifts in exchange for asking questions in Lok Sabha, and also didn’t deny that billionaire businessman Darshan Hiranandani was using her Parliamentary portal account to post questions targeting Adani directly.
Instead, she argued that every parliamentarian shares login IDs and passwords with staff, interns and others, asking the National Informatics Centre to disclose the details of the places from where the IDs of all the Members of Parliament were accessed.
It is notable that BJP MP Nishikant Dubey said in an X post that Mahua Moitra’s NIC ID was being accessed from Dubai. In an affidavit filed with the Parliamentary Ethics Committee, Hiranandani Group CEO Darshan Hiranandani acknowledged that the TMC MP provided him with her Parliamentary login credentials which he used to ask questions from the central government on her behalf. Darshan Hiranandani is based in Dubai, and his affidavit was also signed in Dubai and was notarised by the Consulate General of India in Dubai. He also said that he had given luxury gifts and other favours to Mahua Moitra.
