New Delhi: BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, who wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla accusing TMC’s Mahua Moitra of taking “bribes” from a businessman to ask questions in Parliament, has also written to IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, urging him to investigate the IP addresses of her log-in credentials for the House.
In a letter to Birla on Sunday, Dubey cited a letter he received from advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai and said the lawyer has shared “irrefutable” evidence that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP has taken bribes in the form of “cash” and “gifts” from business tycoon Darshan Hiranandani to ask questions in Parliament.
Responding to Dubey’s letter, Moitra said “all parliamentary work of MPs is done by PAs, assistants, interns and large teams”, and requested Vaishnaw to release the details of the locations and log-in credentials of all the MPs with Call Data Records (CDRs). She also asked the information technology minister to release information on the training given to the staff to log in.
The Hiranandani Group has said there is “no merit” in the allegations, even as a war of words continued on Monday, with Union minister Rajeev Chandrashekhar alleging that the company was “actively and aggressively lobbying for data localisation”.
In a letter to Vaishnaw, Dubey urged him 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.
“The alleged sharing of Smt. Moitra’s Lok Sabha credentials with an external entity poses a direct threat to national security,” the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said.
He said the allegation that the Krishnanagar MP gave Darshan Hiranandani and the Hiranandani conglomerate access to her log-in credentials for the Lok Sabha website so that they could utilise it for their own personal gain “is possibly the most damning and grave of all the charges that are being made against her”.
“If the claims made above are found to be accurate, this constitutes a serious criminal breach of trust as well as a violation of India’s national security because it would give unauthorised individuals access to government websites that may contain classified information,” he said.
Dubey urged the minister to determine whether there were any instances in which Moitra’s Lok Sabha account was accessed at a location where she was not present.
Meanwhile, Chandrashekhar, who is the Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, said, “If true, this is indeed shocking and shameful.”
“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.
Sources in the TMC said the lawyer who filed the complaint is Moitra’s former partner and claimed that it was personal vendetta for political revenge. They said there was also an ongoing tussle between the two over their pet dog and Moitra has filed multiple police complaints against him in the last six months for alleged criminal trespass, theft, vulgar messages and abuse.
Dubey also took a dig at Moitra in a post on X, saying: “Had heard about the war of Mahabharata for Draupadi, but experiencing a political earthquake over (a dog) is happening in the country for the first time.”
The Hiranandani Group, meanwhile, dismissed the allegations, saying those have “no merit”.
“We have always been in the business of business and not in the business of politics. Our group has always worked with the government in the interest of the nation and will continue doing so,” said a group spokesperson.
PTI