BJP MP Nishikat Dubey who accused Mahua Moitra of ‘cash for questions’ in Parliament said the Trinamool MP has time to appear on television interviews but no time for the ethics committee which had initially called her on October 31. After Mahua Moitra sought more time from the committee citing pre-scheduled engagements in her constituency in West Bengal, the committee asked her to appear on November 2. In the past two days, Mahua Moitra appeared on two television channels and refuted the allegations against her claiming that there was no cash involved and that the Parliament site which Darshan Hiranandani logged in using her credentials is not a secret one — the teams of each MP have access to it.

Reacting to Mahua Moitra’s detailed statements on media, Nishikant Dubey said he never spoke to the media on the issue to maintain the dignity of the parliamentary committee. “The accused does not have time to go to the committee, but has ample time to give interviews to media,” Nishikant Dubey tweeted. “Please let Parliament decide,” the BJP MP added.

‘I would rather pay Darshan Hiranandani…’

In an interview on TimesNow on Saturday, Mahua Moitra said Darshan Hiranandani does not have to pay her to speak against Adani as she herself would speak against Adani. “Rather I will pay darshan to speak against Adani,” Mahua Moitra said. “If Darshan Hiranandani is such an anti-national, then why is he allowed to have ₹30,000 crore business in Uttar Pradesh — if he accessing my Parliament login is such a security issue while 10 persons per MP have the same login?” Mahua Moitra added.

‘Mamata Banerjee does not need to defend me’

On Trinamool’s silence on her issue, Mahua Moitra said the party is focussed on real, national issues like the recent protest of the party in the national capital. “My party is not interested in listening to some ridiculous custody fight over a pet dog and a ridiculous allegation of me having taken money which nobody can prove. Mamata Banerjee does not need to do that. I am perfectly capable of doing that myself. My political obituary with the TMC was written by the BJP five months ago,” Mahua Moitra said.