Actor Rajkummar Rao, whose portrayal of an official tasked with conducting polls in the Maoist-affected areas of Chhattisgarh in the Hindi film “Newton” won accolades, was on Thursday inducted as a National Icon by the Election Commission.

Facing youth and urban apathy with many preferring to stay home than turn up at polling stations to cast their votes, the EC appoints prominent Indians as national icons to motivate voters to participate in elections.

The poll panel comprising Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and Election Commissioners Anup Chandra Pandey and Arun Goel exchanged a memorandum of understanding with Rajkummar Rao appointing him as an EC icon.

Rajkummar Rao’s portrayal as a principled government clerk who is determined to conduct a free-and-fair election in the Maoist-affected areas of Chhattisgarh, overcoming the cynicism and apathy of a security officer, won accolades.

The movie won the National Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi and was also India’s nominee for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 90th Academy Awards, popularly known as Oscars.

Earlier, the EC recognised actors Pankaj Tripathi and Aamir Khan, and sportspersons such as Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni and MC Mary Kom, as national icons.

Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra has been summoned by the Lok Sabha ethics committee on October 31 in the “cash for query” controversy. The committee agreed the allegations against Ms Moitra were “very serious”.

In a nearly three-hour-long proceeding today, the committee heard both BJP MP Nishikant Dubey and lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai and discussed every aspect of the allegations they have made against the Trinamool Congress MP, sources said.

The ethics committee chairman Vinod Sonkar told reporters they have sent letters to the Information Technology Ministry and the Home Ministry seeking details on key aspects of the case for a deeper investigation.

“We heard the lawyer and Nishikant Dubey ji. Taking note of the seriousness of the allegations, we have decided to summon Mahua Moitra on Tuesday. She should come and present her side of the matter,” Mr Sonkar told reporters after the ethics committee proceeding ended.

Mr Dehadrai, on whose complaint to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) the entire case rests, was cross-examined by the ethics committee, while Mr Dubey was allowed to explain his allegations, sources said.

Referring to the CBI complaint, Mr Dubey had written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and levelled cash-for-query allegations against Ms Moitra. The Trinamool MP has called the Supreme Court lawyer her “jilted ex”.

Some opposition members raised questions over Mr Dubey’s intent because Ms Moitra had highlighted the issue of his educational qualifications. Mr Dubey, however, said he has already got a clean chit on this matter, sources said. v

The letter claimed to share “irrefutable evidence” of businessman Darshan Hiranandani giving bribes to Ms Moitra to ask questions in parliament. The questions were allegedly designed to target the Adani Group.

The ethics committee will give a report to the Lok Sabha Speaker “as early as possible”, people with direct knowledge of the matter told NDTV, referring to the Pawan Bansal committee that gave its report in just two weeks in December 2005 in the infamous cash-for-questions scam when the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was in power in the centre.

Mr Dehadrai told reporters the proceedings were “cordial and pleasant” and he answered all the questions the ethics committee asked. “Everything was very cordial and they were very pleasant. Some questions were put to me and I have answered those questions,” he said while leaving.

Mr Dubey said he will be available whenever the ethics committee calls him. “They were normal questions… All I can say is the MPs are concerned. When they call me next I will come. The question is whether the propriety and dignity of parliament will hold. It is a question of the dignity of parliament. The ethics committee is more worried than me,” Mr Dubey told reporters.

In an affidavit, Mr Hiranandani alleged the Trinamool MP shared her MP email so that he could send her information and she could raise the questions in parliament. He alleged she later gave him her parliament login and password for him to post the questions directly. The ethics committee reaching out to the Information Technology Ministry and the Home Ministry is linked to the alleged misuse of the parliament login ID and password by Ms Moitra.

Ms Moitra has denied the allegations and said she is prepared for any inquiry. She has also said that she is ready to answer questions from the Lok Sabha ethics committee.

Neither The Trinamool nor its INDIA bloc allies have come out in support of Ms Moitra so far. The Trinamool has said it will not comment on the case. The party’s leader in the Rajya Sabha, Derek O’Brien, has said they will take an appropriate decision on the allegations against Ms Moitra after the parliamentary panel completes its investigation.

Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee lashed out at the BJP Thursday after Enforcement Directorate raids on state minister Jyotipriya Mallick, warning the central agency (and the Central Bureau of Investigation) of police action if any harm should come to the senior Trinamool leader.

However, the support for Mr Mallick was accompanied by continuing silence over Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra being investigated by the Ethics Committee in the alleged cash-for-query scam.

The Trinamool has distanced itself from charges facing Ms Moitra, who is accused of taking Rs 2 crore in cash to ask, in Parliament, questions allegedly designed to target the Adani Group. The party said last week it would take an “appropriate decision” after the Ethics Committee inquiry.

Trinamool Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien had said “the member concerned” had been told to clarify her position in the matter and that the party awaits the results of the committee’s inquiry.

READ | “Appropriate Decision” In Mahua Moitra Case After Investigation: Trinamool

That panel held its first meet today and decided, within hours, that the charges against Ms Moitra are “very serious” and warrant a full investigation. Mahua Moitra, who is fiercely critical of the BJP, has been summoned on October 31 to answer complaints by House colleague Nishikant Dubey.

READ | Parliament Panel Says Mahua Moitra Case “Serious”, Summons Her On Tuesday

The Trinamool’s silence has been picked up by the BJP, which has claimed Mahua Moitra has been “abandoned” and that Ms Banerjee’s silence is an admission of her party leader’s guilt.

“Trinamool’s stand on Mahua Moitra is – ‘We won’t comment. Said MP will defend herself’.”

“Does it mean: 1) Trinamool accepts Mahua Moitra made serious breaches, including giving log-in to be operated from foreign soil by rival corporate entity in exchange for kickbacks? 2) If so, then why is Trinamool still retaining her rather than sacking her?” BJP’s spokesperson Shehzad Poonwalla asked.

TMC’s official stand on Mahua Moitra is that “We won’t comment. Said MP will defend herself”

Does it mean

1)TMC accepts Mahua Moitra has made serious breaches including giving her log in to be operated from foreign soil by a rival corporate entity in exchange for kickbacks ?…

— Shehzad Jai Hind (@Shehzad_Ind) October 22, 2023

Earlier, senior BJP leader Amit Malviya, who is co-incharge of the party’s Bengal ops, said it was no surprise Ms Banerjee has “abandoned” Ms Moitra.

Meanwhile, on ED raids against Mr Mallick, a furious Mamata Banerjee Banerjee declared, “… (he) has blood sugar. If he dies, we will file a FIR (first information report) against CBI and ED. They torture people and ask them to take names of (other) people. This is atyachar (atrocious).”

The sharp words also came after the Enforcement Directorate searched premises linked to Rajasthan Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasara in connection with the exam paper leak case from last year.

READ | Central Agency Searches Rajasthan Congress Chief’s Home Weeks Before Polls

Like other opposition politicians, Ms Banerjee has often accused the BJP of using central agencies to target rivals, particularly ahead of elections, which are due next month in Congress-ruled Rajasthan.

“‘Yeh kya atyachar… kya anachar chal raha hai?’ (What atrocities, lawlessness is going on here?) … BJP is playing a dirty game in the guise of ED raids on opposition leaders ahead of the Lok Sabha election (in 2024)… has been a single such raid at any BJP leader’s residence?” she asked.

“It (the BJP) says it wants ‘sabka sath, sabka vikas (development for all)’ but actually it wants ‘sabka sath, sabka satyanash (destruction for all)’,” Ms Banerjee declared.

The Trinamool is a member of the INDIA opposition bloc that includes the Congress and has said it now plans to contest all elections, including next year’s Lok Sabha poll, “together as far as possible“.

Rajasthan will vote in an Assembly election on November 25 and this morning’s ED action against Mr Dotasara, a senior member of the ruling outfit, also provoked a furious response from his party.

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