Pinned down to an Ethics Committee appearance for alleged norm violations, Trinamul MP Mahua Moitra herded the Opposition into an outraged walkout from a session on the “cash-for-query” allegations levelled by her ex-partner Jai Dehadrai and BJP Lok Sabha bête noire, Nishikant Dubey.

Moitra took strong exception to Ethics Committee chairman Vinod Kumar Sonkar’s line of questioning, alleging it was akin to “Draupadi’s cheerharan (stripping)”.

Shortly after stomping off, Moitra dashed off a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, complaining she had been subjected to the proverbial “vastraharan (stripping)” by the panel chairman.

“Instead of asking questions pertinent to the subject, the Chairman exhibited a preconceived bias by maliciously and clearly in a defamatory way questioning me,” the Krishnanagar MP wrote. “The committee ought to designate itself under a name other than the Ethics Committee as it has no ethics and morality left.”

Speaking to The Telegraph late in the evening, an outraged Moitra said: “I cannot tell you how demeaning the whole line of questioning was. It was downright dehumanising. Do you know what it means to be asked the level of questions I was subjected to by the so-called Ethics Committee?

“They wanted to know things like who I spoke to late at night, on what software and for how long. They wanted to know if the wives of those I supposedly spoke to knew about it or not. Is this the level of enquiry of an Ethics Committee?”

Moitra also demanded the disclosure of the “regulations” on the sharing of logins and passwords used by MPs to access the Parliament portal.

“I request the Lok Sabha secretariat to please disclose the regulations governing the sharing of one’s login and password to the portal to merely type out questions…. Why were these rules never given to MPs and if they were, why is every single MP sharing this ID and login with numerous people?” Mahua pointedly asked.

She told reporters waiting outside the committee room in the Parliament Annexe Building: “This is an Ethics Committee reading from a script, asking all sorts of filthy questions.”

BSP member Danish Ali said: “We did not want to be part of such a process because they are asking unethical questions. Draupadi ka cheerharan kar rahein hain wahan (Draupadi is being stripped inside).”

Sonkar said that instead of giving answers, Moitra got angry and used unparliamentary language against the committee members. Opposition MPs also tried to cast aspersions on the committee.

On the charge of “cheerharan”, Sonkar held this was being alleged only to dodge questions.

The flamboyant, and not unexpected, walkout took place three hours into the proceedings of the Ethics Committee session.

In the morning, the feisty Moitra had breezed into the committee room with three stylish bags, clearly cocking a tony snook at insinuations that she preferred living the good life and bothered with no apologies about being a compulsive high roller.

According to the complaint filed against her by BJP member Dubey on the basis of details provided by Dehadrai, Moitra is alleged to have asked questions against the Adani group at the behest of businessman Darshan Hiranandani in lieu of expensive gifts and money.

After some resistance from the BJP members on the panel, she was allowed to make an opening statement when it was pointed out that Dubey had also been allowed to hold forth before the committee.

Post-lunch, when the cross-examination began, Sonkar is said to have tried to control the line of questioning by insisting on asking all the questions. At least two panel members said he was referring to a text while asking questions.

Matters came to a head when he started asking personal questions such as how many times Moitra had called Hiranandani on the phone at night, which hotel she stayed in in Dubai and Mumbai….

“We objected and so did Moitra,” said an Opposition MP on the panel. The focus was on the personal details instead of the substantive part of the complaint, he added.

About the allegation that she had shared access to the questions portal of the Lok Sabha with Hiranandani to post questions against Gautam Adani, another MP said there are no rules barring the sharing of access to the portal, launched in 2019.

“When at least 2,000 people have access to the portal, where is the question of national security in this? No question can be posted without the member entering an OTP (one-time password),” the MP said.

“And, in any case, the Speaker has the discretionary power to remove any question if there is concern about national security. Since the questions were allowed, it is clear the questions which got balloted and included in the questions list did not relate to national security.”

BJP parliamentarian Aparajita Sarangi — a member of the committee — questioned the Opposition MPs’ behaviour and said they were wrong in coming out and speaking about what had transpired within.

“She (Moitra) should not have done that. These things are very confidential. The conduct of Mahua Moitra was condemnable. She used unparliamentary words for our chairman and for all the members of the committee,” the Bhubaneshwar MP told ANI.

“So, the chairperson of the committee was asking questions regarding the contents of the affidavit by Hiranandani and she did not want to answer them. And then they created a ruckus."

An Opposition MP said they were constrained to walk out by the manner in which the meeting was being conducted and the nature of the questions being asked.

“We asked for an adjournment of proceedings. When he refused, we demanded that the matter be put to vote. We were out-voted, so the five Opposition MPs on the panel decided it was better to walk out instead of being party to unethical conduct,” the MP said.

Opposition members plan to send a complaint against Sonkar to the Speaker.