New Delhi:
Businessman Darshan Hiranandani’s explosive statement about his links with Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra and claims about her attempts to attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the help of the Adani Group has galvanized her detractors. Most of them greeted the statement as a victory for the truth. Others named as allies of Mahua Moitra, such as journalist Sucheta Dalal, called the affidavit a “farce”.
In his affidavit, Darshan Hiranandani alleged that Mahua Moitra gave him her Parliament login ID to ask questions about the Adani group, which she said was the “only way” to attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He also alleged that Ms Moitra received support in this effort from others, including journalists, opposition leaders and former Adani Group employees, who provided her with unverified information. In this context he mentioned Sucheta Dalal and a few others.
Nishikant Dubey of the BJP, who had sought the suspension of Mahua Moitra from Parliament in a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, said in a Hindi post on parliament are of the utmost importance to me. Satjamev Jajate”.
I think I did a good job. That’s true
I think it’s good—Dr. Nishikant Dubey (@nishikant_dubey) October 19, 2023
‘Truth always wins’ was the one-liner of Jai Anant Dehadrai, who had initially contacted the Central Bureau of Investigation with allegations against the Trinamool MP.
The truth always wins! pic.twitter.com/XBpAu4oXKF
— Jai Anant Dehadrai (@jai_a_dehadrai) October 19, 2023
Sucheta Dalal, on the other hand, called it “baffling” and claimed that she did not know Mahua Moitra “personally at all”.
“This is completely baffling – I don’t know @MahuaMoitra personally at all – I may have retweeted some of her stuff. I don’t know Pallavi Shroff and I knew #ShardulShroff way back. I challenge anyone to find links between me and them. I ask IT Minister @Rajeev_GoI to help me get to the bottom of this. @AshwiniVaishnaw please help too. This is one time when the government should help prevent this kind of slander by some crooks!!” read her post on X.
This is completely baffling – I don’t know @MahuaMoitra personally not at all – I may have retweeted some of her stuff. I don’t know Pallavi Shroff and I used to know it #ShardulShroff long ago. I challenge anyone to find any connection between me and them. Requesting ICT Minister @Rajeev_GoI… https://t.co/uwJ5JymOc3
— Sucheta Dalal (@suchetadalal) October 19, 2023
“I don’t know @MahuaMoitra – and I think she can confirm. The request to help her simply doesn’t come up, NOR has she EVER reached out and asked for help!” read another one of her posts.
Trinamool’s Majid Memon, also a noted Supreme Court advocate, pointed out that such issues should be brought to the attention of the Parliamentary Ethics Committee and not leaked to the media. “Mr Darshan Hiranandani should remember that if he tries to imply that he has bribed the MP to do something that she is not allowed to do, the briber is equally liable for criminal prosecution,” he said.
However, he made it clear that he was speaking as a lawyer and not as a representative of the party.
In his affidavit, Mr Hirandani has alleged that Ms Moitra ‘took help in her endeavors from other people like Sucheta Dalal, Shardul Shroff and Pallavi Shroff, who also interacted with her and fed her with all kinds of food. of unverified information relating to Gautam Adani and his companies”.
“She also received unverified data from various sources, including some claiming to be former employees of the Adani group. Certain information was shared with me, based on which I continued to draft and post questions using her parliamentary login as necessary,” the affidavit said. by NDTV.
In his letter to Om Birla, Nishikant Dubey had alleged that Hiranandani Group had lost the power and infrastructure contract to Adani Group and that Ms Moitra’s questions were aimed at perpetuating the former’s business interests.
Mr Hiranandani has claimed that he helped Ms Moitra in her efforts to attack Prime Minister Modi through the Adani Group. While he admitted that he had also granted favors to Ms Moitra, he claimed that these were done at her request.
“She made frequent demands on me and kept asking me for various favors that I had to do in order to stay close to her and get her support… I could hardly afford to displease her. I often felt that she taking undue advantage of me and pressuring me to do things I didn’t want to do, but I had no choice, for the reasons mentioned above,” his statement read.
The favors included donating expensive luxury items, “providing support for renovation of her officially assigned bungalow in Delhi, travel expenses, vacations etc,” he wrote.
Mahua Moitra has shredded Mr Hiranandani’s statement. “Darshan Hiranandani has not yet been summoned by the CBI, the Ethics Commission or even by any investigating agency. Who did he give this statement to?,” she said in the statement on X, formerly Twitter.
(Disclaimer: New Delhi Television is a subsidiary of AMG Media Networks Limited, an Adani Group company.)
