In a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament Nishikant Dubey demanded an inquiry against All India Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra as well as her immediate suspension, alleging corruption. He claimed to have evidence of bribes exchanged between Mahua and business tycoon Darshan Hiranandani. He alleged that Mahua took "cash and gifts" in exchange for asking questions in the Parliament.
Dubey wrote that he got a letter from Advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai who shared the evidence with him. "Smt Moitra asked approximately 50 questions in Parliament, out of total 61, posted by her, which shockingly seek information with the intent of protecting or perpetuating business interests of Shri Darshan Hiranandani and his Company," Dubey wrote. He added that the questions were also often about another business conglomerate, the Adani Group, which the Hiranandani Group was bidding against.
However, parliamentarians have been questioning the BJP government about the Adani Group ever since they were accused of accounting fraud by a US firm earlier this year. The Prime Minister's silence on the matter was often raised by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi.
Mahua, known for her assertive speeches in the House, responded to the allegations, saying that she welcomed CBI inquiry into any "alleged money laundering right after they finish investigating Adani's offshore money trail, over invoicing benami accounts." She also said that the Adani group was wasting their time by relying on a "dodgy dossier created by dubious Sanghis and circulated by fake degree wallahs" to shut her up or bring her down.
Dubey also alleged that Mahua's raising of issues in the Parliament was a "shouting brigade" and she together with another TMC leader Saugata Roy were in the habit of disrupting the proceedings of the House. Pointing out a precedent from December 2005, Dubey wrote that the Speaker of the time had constituted an inquiry committee to investigate a similar episode and had 10 MPs expelled from the Lok Sabha.