Busy with election campaign: Mahua Moitra informs ED

Trinamool Congress’ (TMC) candidate from Krishnanagar Lok Sabha constituency Mahua Moitra, on Thursday, skipped the summon to Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) Delhi office and informed the Central agency that she is presently preoccupied with her election campaign.

ED has issued fresh summons to Moitra and Dubai-based businessman Darshan Hiranandani for questioning in a Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) contravention case on March 28, official sources said. Moitra has been summoned to their Delhi office.

Moitra is learnt to have told the media that she had campaigns to attend on Thursday afternoon in the Krishnangar constituency. She was called for questioning twice earlier by the Central agency but she did not appear before them citing official work and sought deferment of the notice. Recently, the CBI raided at least four properties of Moitra. Following the raid, she had written to the Election Commission of India (ECI) requesting to set up a framework on how these central probe agencies should conduct themselves when the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) is in effect due to elections.

TMC has called it an attempt to harass her and foil her election campaign. Party leader Sukhendu Sekhar Roy told the media that it is a harassment tactic by the central agency.

“The BJP is desperately trying to foil the campaign of Moitra realising that even after she was illegally removed from Parliament the party gave her a ticket because she is popular among the people of her constituency and she will emerge victorious in the polls.”