In a huge setback to Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra amid the ‘cash for query’ row, business tycoon Darshan Hiranandani admitted that he had used Moitra’s parliamentary login to ask questions targeting Gautam Adani and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Moitra is in the middle of a political storm after BJP MP Nishikant Dubey accused her of taking bribes from Hiranandani, the CEO of Hiranandani Group, to ask questions in parliament against the Adani Group. Moitra, however, hit back, filing a defamation suit against Dubey in the Delhi High Court.
In a signed affidavit, Hiranandani said he had used Moitra’s login to ask questions after state-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) booked capacity at Adani’s Dhamra LNG import facility in Odisha and not at his firm's planned facility.
Hiranandani further said Moitra had made frequent demands, including "expensive luxury items, providing support on renovation of her officially allotted bungalow in Delhi, travel expenses, holidays, etc, apart from providing secretarial and logistical help for her travels within India and to different parts of the world", reported PTI which claimed to have reviewed the affidavit.
The new revelations came even as the Lok Sabha ethics committee is set to hear the complaint filed by Dubey and lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai against Moitra, on October 26.
Dubey had also written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, accusing Moitra of breach of parliamentary privilege and demanding her immediate suspension from house.
Dubey’s allegations had sparked off a political row, with the opposition parties terming it as an attempt of the ruling BJP to defame them. The Hiranandani Group, too, had dismissed Dubey’s allegations, saying they were not in the “business of politics”.
In his affidavit, Hiranandani said he met Moitra at Bengal Global Business Summit in 2017 when she was an MLA.
Over the years, she became a "close personal friend" whom he had expected to use for getting business in states ruled by opposition parties, Hiranandani said.
"Moitra was very ambitious and wanted to make a name for herself at the national level. She was advised by her friends and advisors that the shortest possible route to fame is by personally attacking Modi,” Hiranandani said in his affidavit.
He said since Modi enjoyed “an impeccable reputation”, Moitra thought that the only way to attack the prime minister was by attacking Gautam Adani and his group as both were contemporaries and they belong to the same state of Gujarat.
"She shared with me her email ID as Member of Parliament, so that I could send her information, and she could raise the questions in the Parliament. I went along with her proposal," he claimed.
Following the impressive response she received after raising the first set of questions, Hiranandani said, Moitra shared her Parliament login and password with him so that he could post the questions directly on her behalf when required.
HC to hear Moitra's plea on Friday
The court will hear on Friday Moitra's petition seeking directions to restrain Dubey, Dehadrai and several social media platforms and media houses from posting, circulating or publishing any fake and defamatory content against her.
The plea, which was filed on October 17, is listed for hearing before Justice Sachin Datta.
