‘Dubai didi’: Nishikant Dubey attacks Mahua Moitra over cross-examination demand

BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on Friday continued his incessant onslaught against TMC MP Mahua Moitra over the cash-for-query allegation as he called the latter “Dubai didi”.

Reacting to Moitra’s response to the Ethics Committee of Parliament in which she demanded cross-examining businessman Darshan Hiranandani, the BJP MP said per rules, witnesses are protected from “court-kachehri’ (legal proceedings)”.

“Dubai Didi asked some people for a cross examination. Under the rules of Lok Sabha, especially page 246 of the Kaul-Shakdher book, the witness is protected from court proceedings and its hue and cry… Answers are needed on the question of (hampering) national security and corruption; here we are prepared for the fight,” he wrote on X in Hindi.

Taking a swipe at Moitra over what appeared to be a typological error, he said Moitra was so “intoxicated with Dubai” that she misspelled his name in the letter as ‘Dubai’ instead of ‘Dubey’.

“The accused MP is so intoxicated by Dubai that even my name has been changed to Dubai in the letter written to the Chairman of the Ethics Committee. ‘Mohtarma’ has described her mental condition by changing my name to Dubey, oh my fate?” he added.

Mahua Moitra today responded to the Ethics Committee of Lok Sabha’s summons through a letter, requesting for more time to appear before the panel, which is probing Dubey’s “cash-for-query” allegation.

Moitra expressed her inability to appear before the panel on October 31 due to her commitments in West Bengal till 4 November 2023.

“I represent the state of West Bengal where Durga Puja is the biggest festival. I am already committed to attending numerous pre-scheduled Vijaya Dashami Sammelans/meetings (both government and political) in my constituency from 30th October to 4th November 2023 and cannot be in Delhi on 31st October 2023,” she wrote in the letter.

Referring to businessman Darshan Hiranandani’s allegation in an affidavit that she had accepted expensive gifts and renovation of her house in return for asking questions in Parliament, Moitra demanded from the panel that he be called to depose before it.

“An affidavit notarised at the Indian High Commission in Dubai on 20/10/2023 was submitted on a suo moto basis to the Committee and released publicly to the media by Shri Darshan Hiranandani. Shri Hiranandani in a public interview expressed his willingness to appear before the committee. His affidavit available in the public domain, is extremely scant on detail and provides no actual inventory of what he has allegedly given me,” Moitra wrote in a letter to the panel’s chief, Vinod Kumar Sonkar.

“Given the seriousness of the allegations and in keeping with the principles of natural justice, it is imperative that I am allowed to exercise my right to cross-examine Shri Hiranandani,” she added.