Trinamool Congress national secretary Abhishek Banerjee said on Thursday that the party MP Mahua Moitra, who is facing the heat in the cash-for-query case, is competent enough to fight her battle on her own. The case pertains to the accusations made by Bharatiya Janata Party's Nishikant Dubey that Moitra asked questions in Lok Sabha to target the Adani Group at the behest of businessman Darshan Hiranandani in exchange for bribes.
Notably, this is the first time the TMC national secretary has come out in defence of Moitra since the entire row began. Speaking on the allegations levelled on Moitra in the case, Banerjee asked, "How can action be taken against someone, without anything being proved," as quoted by the news agency PTI.
“Whoever is questioning the government on the Adani issue is being harassed. How can the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee take any action against Mahua Moitra even before the allegations are proved against her? "The committee is yet to take any action against BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri, but is very prompt in taking action against opposition MPs, who are fighting against the government and its policies,” Banerjee said, as quoted by PTI.
Banerjee was summoned by the probe agency today in connection with the SSC case. After coming out of the ED office in Kolkata, Banerjee said that he has nothing to hide and is always ready to cooperate with the agency in its probe into the alleged school jobs scam in West Bengal, as reported by PTI.
The TMC MP said he submitted around a 6,000-page reply to the agency and all the documents demanded by it. “I have always cooperated with the ED for probe. I have nothing to hide. I will appear before the ED if I am summoned again. I have submitted my detailed reply with all necessary documents,” he told reporters outside the central agency's office, as quoted by PTI.