The 'cash for query' lawsuit involving TMC MP Mahua Moitra was filed on Thursday by Darshan Hiranandani, the real estate tycoon Niranjan Hiranandani's son. He made some shocking allegations about the fiery MP in the three-page document and said that he exploited her Lok Sabha login information to target the Adani group and provided her pricey presents.

The affidavit was filed a few days after BJP MP Nishikant Dubey alleged that Moitra had accepted pricey gifts from Hiranandani in exchange for providing information that would benefit his businesses. Dubey claimed that lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai had "shared irrefutable evidence of bribes exchanged" between Moitra and Darshan Hiranandani in a letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker. The Lok Sabha's Ethics Committee received the accusations against Moitra from the Speaker.

Mahua Moitraa targeted the Adani group

Hiranandani claimed in the affidavit he gave to the Parliamentary Ethics Committee that Moitra had targeted the Adani group and Prime Minister Narendra Modi with her inquiries. "She was advised by her friends and advisors that the shortest possible route to fame is by personally attacking Shri Narendra Modi...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. As was her wont, she thought that the only way to attack Sh. Modi is by attacking Sh. Gautam Adani and his group as both were contemporaries, and they belong to the same state of Gujarat," he noted.

The businessman said that she was aware that Dhamra LNG, a joint venture company of the Adani group, was favoured above his enterprises by the Indian Oil Corporation when negotiating a long-term off-take arrangement. Based on this knowledge, he claimed, Moitra came up with a few inquiries that would aim to humiliate the government by focusing on the Adani Group. 

 "She shared with me her email ID as a Member of Parliament”

"She shared with me her email ID as a 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 declared.

Hiranandani, a resident of Dubai, stated that she was "delighted" with the answer to the first set of inquiries he sent her on the Adani company. "She therefore requested me to keep supporting her in her attacks on the Adani group and provided me her Parliament login and password so that I could post the questions directly on her behalf when required."

The businessman claimed that she made regular demands on him and kept requesting different favours, which he had to grant to stay close to her and win her backing for his enterprise in states with opposing governments. According to him, among the requests and favours made were "gifting her expensive luxury items, providing support on the renovation of her officially assigned bungalow in Delhi, travel expenses, holidays, etc., aside from providing secretarial and logistical help for her travels within India and to different parts of the world."

Hiranandani claimed that he frequently felt as though she was taking advantage of him and exerting undue pressure on him to take actions, "but I had no choice."

Moitra refuted all of the accusations made against her and filed a petition with the Delhi High Court asking the court to restrain Dubey, Dehadrai, social media companies, and media outlets from putting out any allegedly false and defamatory content against her.

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