Kolkata: Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Friday claimed the government was trying to protect a “particular industrialist” while maintaining he was not fully aware of the facts of the charges of bribery brought against TMC MP Mahua Moitra.
Chowdhury also expressed his surprise at the “promptness” with which an Ethics Committee was formed to probe the allegations against Moitra.
“I don’t know exactly what happened. But in general, I can say every MP has the right to speak in Parliament. But the ruling party wants to throttle the voice of everyone inside and outside the House. Based on this, I feel the issue is ‘rai ka pahaad’ (mountain out of a molehill). If anyone speaks against that industrialist, the government gets rattled. This should also be investigated,” the West Bengal Congress president told reporters.
“When we go to Parliament, we go as people’s representatives. We raise people’s questions wherever we get these from. If the government has an answer, it gives. Otherwise, it does not. But I have never seen such promptness in forming an Ethics Committee and starting an investigation,” Chowdhury added.
He cited the example of Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification and said whoever speaks against that “particular” industrialist, might become the “country’s enemy”.
“The government is facing problems because of a particular person or a particular industrialist. The government is so eager to protect a particular industrialist that if anyone asks questions against him, the person becomes an enemy of the country. When Rahul Gandhi raised a question about that specific industrialist, action was taken against him,” he said.
Darshan Hiranandani, CEO of real estate-to-energy group Hiranandani, is accused of paying Moitra to raise questions in Parliament about the Adani Group.
On Thursday, Hiranandani said Moitra had targeted Adani to “malign and embarrass” Prime Minister Narendra Modi whose impeccable reputation gave the opposition no opportunity to attack him.
In an affidavit, the Dubai-based businessman claimed he used Moitra’s Parliament login to post questions. The TMC is yet to issue any official statement on this issue.
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