Renowned businessman Darshan Hiranandani has made serious allegations against TMC Member of Parliament Mahua Moitra, accusing her of accepting bribes from him in exchange for asking questions in Parliament. On October 19, Hiranandani penned a letter revealing that he possessed Mahua Moitra’s login ID and password for the Lok Sabha. With this information, he claimed that Moitra used to post questions on his behalf. Hiranandani is involved in the real estate and energy sectors.
Hiranandani claims that Moitra told him that she wanted to “quickly make a name for herself at the national level” and that she was advised by her friends and advisors that the shortest possible route to fame was by personally attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Hiranandani says that Moitra asked him to help her attack Modi by targeting Gautam Adani, the chairman of the Adani Group, who is from the same state of Gujarat as Modi.
Hiranandani claims that Moitra drafted a few questions that would embarrass the Government by targeting the Adani group and that she shared her parliamentary email ID and password with him so that he could send her information and she could raise the questions in Parliament. Darshan Hiranandani admits he used Mahua Moitra’s parliament login to target Adani. Says he was blackmailed by her.
Hiranandani says that he continued to draft and post questions using Moitra’s parliamentary login whenever needed, based on information that was shared with him. Hiranandani also alleges that Moitra made frequent demands of him and kept asking him for various favors, such as expensive luxury items, support on the 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.
Hiranandani says that he could ill-afford to displease Moitra and that he often felt that she was taking undue advantage of him and pressurising him to do things he didn’t want to, but he had no choice because of the aforementioned reasons.
Hiranandani says that he has decided to make these allegations in public interest, as the matter has snowballed into a political controversy with the Parliamentary Privilege Committee and the judiciary now seized of the matter.
Nishikant Dubey Lodged Complaint with Speaker Birla
BJP Member of Parliament Nishikant Dubey had written a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on October 15, making allegations against Mahua Moitra. He accused Moitra of accepting money and gifts in exchange for raising questions in Parliament. The Speaker has referred the matter to the Ethics Committee.
Investigation
The Lok Sabha Ethics Committee has initiated an investigation into Hiranandani’s allegations. The committee is expected to hear from both Hiranandani and Moitra. The outcome of the investigation could have serious implications for Moitra’s political career. If she is found guilty of corruption, she could be suspended or even expelled from Parliament.
Moitra has denied these allegations, calling them “baseless” and “defamatory.” She has also accused the BJP of using the allegations to silence her.The matter is currently under investigation by the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee. It is important to note that Moitra is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
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