Mahua Moitra skips 3rd ED summons, campaigns in Bengal

Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra campaigned in her Krishnanagar constituency of West Bengal on Thursday, giving a miss to the Enforcement Directorate summons that asked her to appear for questioning at the ED office in New Delhi.

The probe agency had issued fresh summons to Moitra and Dubai-based businessman Darshan Hiranandani for questioning in a Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) contravention case.

Addressing reporters during campaigning in Nadia's Kaliaganj, she said: "The ED will do its job, and I will do mine, which is to continue with my campaign."

The 49-year-old Trinamool Congress leader was called for questioning twice earlier by the central agency, but she did not depose citing official work and sought deferment of the notice.

Moitra, who was expelled from the Lok Sabha in December for 'unethical conduct', has been renominated by her party from West Bengal's Krishnanagar seat in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had raided her premises in connection with the cash-for-query case on Saturday, days after anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal directed the federal agency to investigate the allegations levelled against her by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey.

Moitra has denied any wrongdoing.

Meanwhile, reacting to Moitra's decision to skip the summons, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Rahul Sinha referred to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was recently arrested by the ED in connection with a money laundering case linked to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy.

"She is trying to defy the central probe agency, but she must not forget what happened to Arvind Kejriwal, who had ignored nine summons by the ED. Her decision to skip the summons only proves that the ED is moving in the right direction," Sinha claimed.