Indian firebrand opposition parliamentarian Mahua Moitra stormed out of the Parliament's Ethics Committee meeting, to which she had been called for questioning in a so-called bribe-for-query case on Thursday, accusing MPs of asking her "filthy questions".
Ms Moitra is accused of taking bribes from business tycoon Darshan Hiranandani to ask questions in the house to corner the government over its alleged links with the multi-billionaire Gautam Adani.
Ms Moitra, 49, represents the Trinamool Congress (TMC), the regional and ruling political party in the eastern state of West Bengal and a vocal critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which is widely considered to be close with Mr Adani.
Nishikant Dubey, a parliamentarian from Mr Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, has accused her of taking bribes from Mr Hiranandani, a Dubai-based industrialist and chief executive of property conglomerate Hiranandani Group, for allegedly asking questions on his behalf.
She had appeared before the committee in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian Parliament, but stormed out in protest over the line of questioning.
"They are asking filthy questions ... picking on anything, talking rubbish," she said.
Ms Moitra was asked the number of times she had visited Dubai and in which hotel she stayed.
Footage of her dramatic exit were shown on loop on TV.
Ms Moitra has repeatedly raised questions related to fraud allegations against Mr Adani, following a report by the US-based investment research firm Hindenburg.
Mr Adani, who was ranked the world's third richest person this year, suffered a sharp drop in fortunes after Hindenburg accused him of corporate malpractice, artificially boosting share prices, market manipulation and accounting fraud in his port-to-energy business empire.
The Ethics Committee is investigating allegations that Ms Moitra's questions on Mr Adani were motivated by bribes. If Ms Moitra is found guilty, the committee could recommend her suspension from the house.
What is the 'cash-for-ethics' case?
The alleged case of bribery came to light on October 15 after BJP parliamentarian Nishikant Dubey wrote a letter to the parliament in which he said he had received information from advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai claiming Ms Moitra had shared her parliament website login credentials with Mr Hiranandani.
Mr Dehadrai, 35, is a Delhi-based Supreme Court lawyer and is believed to be Ms Moitra’s former partner.
Mr Nishikant alleges that Ms Moitra had asked 50 questions in the Lok Sabha that were focused on Mr Adani and his conglomerate, allegedly at the behest of Mr Hiranandani, in return of bribes and favours worth 20 million rupees ($240,500).
Mr Dubey claims Mr Dehadrai has shared “irrefutable evidence of bribes exchanged” between Ms Moitra and Mr Hiranandani.
She has denied the allegations and has filed defamation cases at the Delhi high court against Mr Dubey, Mr Dehadrai and several news organisations .
She has also accused Mr Adani of being behind the “bogus” claims.
"The only things I have received from Darshan [Hiranandani] as a close personal friend was one scarf for my birthday present three or four years ago … there is a brand called Bobbi Brown and he bought me lipstick from the brand and eyeshadow," Ms Moitra told news channel India Today.
While she admitted to sharing her login details with Mr Hiranandanil, she insisted it was not illegal.
The Hiranandani Group refuted the allegations but Mr Hiranandani later submitted a “sworn affidavit” to the parliament’s ethics committee claiming Ms Moitra had sought expensive items as gifts from him.
He also claimed she was “ambitious and wanted to make a quick name for herself … and was advised the shortest route to fame is by personally attacking Mr Modi”.
Ms Moitra has questioned the authenticity of the affidavit and claimed Mr Modi’s office had coerced Mr Hiranandani to sign the two-page letter.
“Why would one of India's most respected/educated businessmen sign a letter like this on white paper unless a gun was put on his head to do it?" she said?
A dog and a ‘jilted lover’
The genesis of the bribery case is a bitter custody battle over Ms Moitra and Mr Dehadrai’s jointly adopted dog, Henry.
After the couple had parted ways, they split care of the three-year-old Rottweiler between them, particularly when Ms Moitra was touring her constituency for work in West Bengal’s Krishnagar.
However, she accused him of not returning her dog and filed a number of complaints with police against him alleging criminal trespass, theft, vulgar messages and abuse.
The complaints were withdrawn on October 4, shortly before the allegations of bribery emerged.
Ms Moitra has called Mr Dehadrai a “jilted lover” with an “acrimonious personal history who wanted to somehow get back at me”.
Mahua Moitra: From investment banker to political firebrand
Ms Moitra is one of India’s most prominent female politicians.
She is known for being a fiery speaker who routinely criticises Mr Modi and his policies, both within parliament and outside of it.
She studied mathematics and economics at the Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts.
Before she joined politics, she worked as an investment banker in the US and UK.
She quit her job at JP Morgan in London and returned to India where she entered the political fray in 2008. She started off with a brief stint with the Indian National Congress, before joining the TMC, which has been ruling West Bengal for the past 12 years, in 2010.
After working with grassroots voters, she fought a parliamentary election in 2019 in Krishnanagar constituency and won by a majority of 60,000 votes.
