Mahua Moitra row: Hiranandani claims he paid for expensive gifts, travels, TMC MP responds; top points

The Mahua Moitra-Nishikant Dubey-Jai Anant Dehadrai row on the ongoing cash-for-query at the Parliament has only gotten murkier. Both sides have slinged accusations on the other. Moreover, businessman Darshan Hiranandani, who was caught in the eye of the storm, has come out with a signed affidavit accusing Moitra of accepting bribes to ask questions. Moitra, on the other hand, has responded to the allegations saying that the letter was penned by the PMO, and the charges are baseless. 

Here’s what Darshan Hiranandani said, and Mahua Moitra’s response: 

Hiranandani said that he first met Moitra in 2017 at a summit and remained in touch since. She became a close personal friend over a period of time. “In the course of my interactions with her, I found her to be a bright intellectual and one of the public representatives that thoroughly understands both the economy and business matters,” he said in the affidavit. 

The businessman claimed that Moitra would ask for “odds and ends” that involved his time. “Once she asked you for something, it was always a drop everything and do it now for me approach. She was dominating by nature and assertive in her temperament. She would always say, it was always urgent and critical for her and would slowly take control of your time. It was a way of reeling in your interest and in some way controlling some of your actions,” he stated. 

The TMC MP was determined to use her victory in 2019 when she became a Lok Sabha MP from Krishnanagar, West Bengal, “to further her personal career”. Moitra wanted to come to Parliament only through Lok Sabha and refused the Rajya Sabha seat offered to her twice, he said. “It catapulted her to a national stage. It enabled her to know and be known by the most influential people domestically and globally,” he stated in the affidavit. 

“Ms. Mahua Moitra was very ambitious and wanted to quickly 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 Shri Narendra Modi, the honourable Prime Minister of India. The only problem was that Sh. Modi enjoyed an impeccable reputation and was not giving any opportunity to anyone to attack him in policy, governance or personal conduct,” Hiranandani stated in the affidavit. 

Hiranandani then said that Moitra thought that the only way to attack PM Narendra Modi is by attacking Gautam Adani and his group “as both were contemporaries, and they belong to the same state of Gujarat”. 

The rise of Gautam Adani had created jealousy and detractors – something that helped her, he said. “She knew that Indian Oil Corporation preferring to get into a long term off-take agreement with Dhamra LNG, a joint venture company of the Adani group, and not with my companies. Based on this information, Ms. Moitra drafted a few questions that would have elements to embarrass the Government by targeting the Adani group; questions that she could raise in Parliament. 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 said. 

Mahua Moitra was delighted at the response she received on the first set of questions Hiranandani had sent her, he said, particularly the support she received from the Opposition and certain sections of the media. Moitra then asked him to keep supporting her in her attacks on Adani, he stated.  

The MP received help from people like Sucheta Dalal, Shardul Shroff and Pallavi Shroff, who helped her with all sorts of unverified information, he said. Moitra had also interacted with many Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi on matters relating to Adani, he added. Moitra spoke with various foreign journalists from Financial Times, the New York Times, the BBC, Hiranandani added. 

She also demanded “favours” and expensive gifts, support on renovation of her officially allotted bungalow in Delhi, travel expenses, holidays etc., he added.

Hiranandani said that he felt that he could get support in states ruled by the Opposition through her and went along with her demands. “Many a times I felt that she was taking undue advantage of me and pressurising me to do things I didn’t want to, but I had no choice, because of the aforementioned reasons,” he added. 

Mahua Moitra, in her response, pointed out that the initial response from Hiranandani was to deny the allegations by Nishikant Dubey and Jai Anant Dehadrai, her “jilted ex”. But now Darshan Hiranandani has taken a u-turn to agree to all the accusations. 

Hirandani has not been summoned by the CBI or ethics committee, so who has he given the affidavit to, she asked. The letter is in a white paper, with no letterhead, she said. Why would anyone write so unless “a gun was put to his head”, she asked. 

“The contents of this letter are a joke. It has clearly been drafted by some half-wit in the PMO who doubles up as a creative writer in the BJP’s IT cell,” she said. It sings paeans to Modi and Adani, while linking every opponent to her and her alleged corruption, Moitra pointed out. 

Mahua Moitra questioned why a businessman who accompanied the PM abroad should be fearful of a first time Opposition MP like her. She asked why has Hiranandani not conducted a press conference or tweeted the affidavit himself. 

The PMO held the proverbial gun on the heads of Darshan and his father, she accused. The PMO asked them to sign the document in 20 minutes or face a total shutdown of their businesses. The CBI would raid them and all the government business would stop, she said. 

“The draft of this letter was sent by the PMO and he was forced to sign it. And it was leaked to the press immediately,” said Mahua Moitra in her response. She said that while it is tragic, she understands why Darshan is doing this. 

Mahua Moitra said that her closest have been threatened with CBI and ED action. “This is part of the establishment’s witch hunt,” she said. “But they cannot scare me,” she said, adding that she will continue to stand up to Adani until he answers all the questions he is supposed to answer. 

Also read: Who is Jai Anant Dehadrai, Mahua Moitra's 'jilted ex'?

Also read: Mahua Moitra cash for query row: 'PMO held a proverbial gun,' says TMC MP on Darshan Hiranandani's affidavit