BJP parliamentarian Nishikant Dubey, a key player in the cash-for-query controversy engulfing Trinamul MP Mahua Moitra, on Saturday claimed he had complained to anti-corruption authority Lokpal but did not say against whom.

But his reference to “corruption of MPs and Ministers” in this context suggested he was trying to step up the heat on Moitra.

“CBI-I am tired of hearing CBI. Filed a complaint with Lokpal today. Only Lokpal looks after the corruption of MPs and Ministers, CBI is the medium,” Dubey posted on X in the evening.

Parliament’s Ethics Committee is already inquiring into the cash-for-query charges against Moitra, levelled by a Supreme Court lawyer and referred by Dubey to the Lok Sabha Speaker.

In a post on X on Saturday morning, Dubey had alleged, without naming Moitra,
that an “MP had mortgaged the country’s security for money” and that the MP’s parliamentary ID had been used in Dubai while she was in India.

Moitra has been accused of passing on her House email login ID to a businessman friend so he could raise parliamentary questions on her behalf.

Dubey wrote in a post that: “Parliament IDs were opened from Dubai, at the time the alleged MP was in India.... NIC gave this information to the investigative agency.”

“NIC” appeared a reference to the government-run National Informatics Centre.

Moitra responded with a post in the afternoon that said: “Request NIC to please release ALL details of MPs publicly to show they were physically present in place from where IDs were accessed by their PAs and researchers/ interns/ staff. Don’t use Fake Degree wala for leak. Make this public NOW.”

Moitra had earlier accused Dubey of claiming to possess a degree that she said was fake.