"Attempts To Influence Witness": BJP MP's Fresh Charge Against Mahua Moitra

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Nishikant Dubey on Saturday alleged that attempts are being made to influence the witness amid the 'Cash-for-Query' row and urged the Lok Sabha speaker to take action.

"According to the information, Darshan Hiranandani and Dubai Didi (MP Mahua Moitra) are in touch. An attempt is being made to influence the witness @loksabhaspeaker to take action," Nishikant Dubey said in a post on X.

Further, comparing TMC MP Mahua Moitra with former Congress MP Raja Ram Pal amid the 'Cash-for-Query 'row, the BJP MP said that the former was poor while Moitra was "friends with the rich".

"There is a similarity between Mahua ji and Raja Ram Pal ji, who asked questions about money and was expelled from Parliament during the Congress rule in 2005. Pal ji was fighting against corruption of Reliance, hence he was expelled, Mahua ji Adani. Is this why you are fighting?" the BJP MP said in a post in Hindi on X.

Sharing a link that includes a letter dated back to December 2005, which was written by Raja Ram Pal to the Prime Minister's Office about the corrupt practices of the then Power Ministry officials, Nishikant Dubey, who initially levelled the cash-for-query allegation against the TMC MP, urged everyone to read the letter to "know the nature of Mahua" and named her a "thief".

"Read Raja Ram Pal ji's letter and compare that with Mahua's nature and signature. The BSP Member of Parliament Raja Ram Pal was regularly writing to the Prime Minister....Raja Ram Pal ji speaks Hindi, is poor. She is a thief, Mahua ji speaks English, she is friends with the rich, is she honest?" he added.

Meanwhile, Mahua Moitra has sought more time to appear before the Ethics Committee of the Lok Sabha. She has been summoned to appear on October 31 over allegations against her in the 'Cash-for-Query' scandal.

The TMC MP also sought to question the businessman at the centre of the alleged scandal, Darshan Hiranandani.

"It is imperative that I am allowed my right to cross examine Hiranandani, it is also imperative that he appear before the committee and provide a detailed verified list of alleged gifts and favours he allegedly provide to me" she said in her letter to Vinod Sonkar, Chairman of the Parliament Ethics Committee.

On Thursday, Nishikant Dubey and advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai appeared before the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee to submit oral evidence on their allegations.

The BJP MP earlier wrote to the Lok Sabha Speaker, alleging the involvement of Mahua Moitra in the 'cash for query' scandal.

He claimed that he held evidence as shared by Advocate Dehadrai, which allegedly corroborates the charges against the TMC MP.

In response to Dubey's letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker, the Trinamool MP had said she would welcome a probe by the Speaker after he had dealt with alleged breaches of privilege by other BJP MPs.