New Delhi: A day after she accused the Parliament Ethics Committee of asking her a bunch of “filthy questions” during the cash-for-query hearing, Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra on Friday said she was ready to cooperate with the probe provided the panel maintained a standard of decency, news agency PTI reported.
In an interview with the new agency, Moitra said, “I am always ready for the probe and to answer all the questions. But there has to be a line of decency which needs to be mentioned. I need protection from cheap and derogatory questioning. I have written about this to the Lok Sabha Speaker too.”
Calling the ethics panel probe a “political witch-hunt”, the TMC leader said, “I have told the Lok Sabha Speaker that he has to give me protection against the filthy, disgusting misogyny. Anything related to the inquiry, I have already answered. I have clarified my position 100 times. If I have broken any rule, I should be informed about it. If they want to ask me any questions, it's okay, but not in this setup.”
Meanwhile, condemning her behaviour at the ethics panel meeting, BJP leader Aparajita Sarangi said Moitra crossed “all limits of decency” and stormed out of the hearing creating a “fake narrative” and playing the “victim card”.
Speaking to news agency ANI, Sarangi said, “She went beyond all limits of decency. We had invited Mahua Moitra and she was supposed to answer our questions. The Chairman asked a few questions and limited his questions to the affidavit submitted by Darshan Hiranandani. There was no question of going beyond the limits or rather the contents of the affidavit. Moitra spoke for more than an hour and she talked about her personal life in which I don't think anybody was interested.”
“Then suddenly there were certain questions pertaining to the contents of the affidavit posed by the Chairman where she actually lost her cool and used all kinds of filthy language against the Chairman and other members of the Committee. She was very arrogant in her demeanour. She was very rude...She has been trying to create a fake narrative and misleading the people of the country by playing a victim card,” Sarangi added.
BJP MP Sunita Duggal said Moitra was given the choice of responding to the Chairman’s questions after 24 hours and that none of the questions asked were objectionable as the TMC leader claimed.
“Committee Chairman Vinod Sonkar called Mahua Moitra. She spoke in detail for about 1.30-2 hours. Before asking the question, the Chairman said it's up to you, whether you want to answer the questions or not and if you want, you can take time and answer them after 24 hours. She answered some questions but then said they were objectionable. We did not think so, the questions were normal. She got angry... She used unparliamentary words for the Chairman. She then walked out of the meeting with the opposition MPs,” Duggal told ANI.
Meanwhile, NCP leader Supriya Sule said it is really unfortunate that the Parliament is being defamed.
“It’s very saddening and unfortunate. We go to the Parliament as members and are responsible to the people who elect us. The way our Parliament is being defamed hurts me as a responsible member. As the custodian of the Lok Sabha, of which I am a member, Speaker Om Birla should intervene and stand with the truth,” Sule told ANI.