‘Cash-for-query’ row: CBI registers preliminary enquiry against TMC MP Mahua Moitra | India News

NEW DELHI: The CBI on Saturday registered a preliminary enquiry against TMC MP Mahua Moitra on the directions of the anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal in connection with ‘cash-for-query’ case.
Mahua Moitra faces allegations of asking questions in Lok Sabha to target Gautam Adani at the behest of businessman Darshan Hiranandani. The TMC MP has denied charges of taking bribes.However, she has admitted to sharing her parliamentary log-in details withHiranandani, whom she called her “friend.”

The Lok Sabha Ethics Committee has recommended Mahua Moitra’s expulsion after a hearing which was marked by walkout by the opposition members of the panel. The opposition members had accused the panel chairman Vijay Sonkar of asking personal questions to the Trinamool MP.
Last month, in a signed affidavit submitted to the Lok Sabha committee, businessman Hiranandani admitted to using the TMC MP’s parliamentary login to ask questions targeting Adani. This was after the state-owned behemoth Indian Oil Corporation booked capacity at the Gujarat-based conglomerate’s Dhamra LNG import facility in Odisha and not at his firm’s planned facility.
Meanwhile, Breaking her long silence on the issue, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said, “after the arrest of party leaders in different cases, the expulsion of MP Mahua Moitra is being planned. But this would eventually help her before the elections.”

The Trinamool Congress has already come out in support of the embattled MP. Mamata’s nephew and party’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee had expressed solidarity with Mahua and had labelled the Centre’s move as “vendetta politics.” He accused the BJP of attempting to stifle voices critical of the central government.
The West Bengal chief minister claimed that the central agencies which were targeting the opposition leaders at present will go after the BJP following the 2024 elections. “This government at the Centre is there for three more months,” she added.