Amid an ongoing row over the ‘cash for query’ allegations against Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Monday said that if the charges are true, it is indeed “shocking and shameful”.
Moitra is in the middle of a political storm after BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on Sunday accused her of taking “bribes” from businessman Darshan Hiranandani to ask questions in parliament.
Weighing in on the controversy, Chandrashekhar, who is the Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, alleged that the Hiranandani Group was "actively and aggressively lobbying for data localisation".
"It is true that this company was actively and aggressively lobbying for data localisation. Language used in PQ is very similar (linking need for data localisation to data breaches) to that used when the head of this company met me.
"I am not aware or privy to the full facts or background on this -- but if it is true, then it's a terrible travesty and misuse of PQs (Parliament Questions)," he said in a post on X.
On Sunday, Dubey wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla accusing Moitra of breach of parliamentary privilege and demanding her immediate suspension from house.
The BJP MP claimed that Hiranandani had paid Rs 2 crore and gifts like expensive i-phone to the Trinamool MP and had also given her Rs 75 lakh to contest elections.
Out of the 61 questions Moitra had raised in parliament recently, 50 were seeking information “with the intent of protecting or perpetuating business interests of Darshan Hiranandani and his company”, Dubey claimed in his letter.
He further alleged that the questions were often focused on the Adani Group, another business conglomerate, “Hiranandani Group was bidding for business against".
Moitra hit back at Dubey, saying she is ready to face a CBI probe over the issue.
“Multiple breach of privileges pending against fake degreewala and other BJP luminaries. Welcome any motions against me right after Speaker finishes dealing with those,” Moitra said in a post on X.
Dubey, meanwhile, has also written to IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, urging him to investigate the IP addresses of Moitra's log-in credentials for the House.
Dubey urged Vaishnaw to take the allegations against Moitra with "utmost seriousness" and initiate an investigation to ascertain the IP addresses of all log-in credentials of the TMC leader's Lok Sabha account and determine whether there were any instances in which her account was accessed at a location where she was not present.