Parliamentary leader of the Trinamool Congress Mahua Moitra has responded in-depth to the signed statement of businessman Darshan Hiranandani, which supported the allegations of BJP legislator Nishikant Dubey that she was given gifts and money in exchange for asking specific questions in Parliament.
Moitra questioned the document’s credibility due to the lack of official letterhead and notarization, implying that a significant businessman like Darshan Hiranandani would not generally sign such an important declaration on plain white paper without probable external pressure.
“The affidavit is on white paper and not on official letterhead or notarised. Why would one of India’s most respected/ educated businessman sign a letter like this on white paper unless a gun was put to his head to do it?” the Lok Sabha member said in a statement.
The affidavit, which Moitra called a “joke” and which contained glowing praise for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani, while accusing investigative journalists and other political opponents of her alleged corruption, was written by “some half-wit in the PMO who doubles up as a creative writer in the BJP’s IT cell.”
Gautam Adani’s “samdhi,” Cyril Shroff, served on the SEBI committee while having a clear conflict of interest. The government relentlessly pursues both Shashi Tharoor and Rahul Gandhi. Investigative journalist Sucheta Dalal always exposing the government, she continued.
According to Moitra, the leaked affidavit is part of a broader strategy by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government to discredit her and divert attention from pressing concerns related to the Adani Group. She alleged that the government is attempting to intimidate those close to her, including threats of investigations by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
“The PMO held a proverbial gun to Darshan and his father’s heads and gave them 20 minutes to sign this letter sent to them. They were threatened with a total shut down of all their businesses,” she wrote, highlighting his business dependency on government licenses and thousands of crores of investments in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh.
“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. This is in return for the government not doing a CBI investigation or not aggressively attacking their businesses,” the TMC MP claimed.
“Though tragic, it is totally understandable that Darshan (who is a dear friend) would need to think of what is at stake for him here – namely the continuation of his family businesses built up over decades and the fate of thousands of employees – and buckle under pressure and sign this,” she added.
The affidavit of Darshan Hiranandani
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose flawless reputation allowed the opposition no opportunity to attack him, was the aim of Gautam Adani, according to Darshan Hiranandani, CEO of the real estate to energy business Hiranandani, who revealed this on Thursday.
Hiranandani, who confirmed to HT over WhatsApp that he released the statement, admitted that he gave Moitra information on the basis of which she could pose questions attacking the Adani Group; that she received information from others too on this; that he gifted her “expensive luxury items” and underwrote the “renovation of her official” bungalow; and that she provided him with her Parliament login and password so that he could “post the questions directly on her behalf”.
Moitra’s estranged partner and lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai, together with BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, claimed earlier this week that Moitra used Hiranandani’s favours to ask questions in Parliament.
The Lok Sabha Speaker, Om Birla, has forwarded Dubey’s complaint to the Parliament’s Ethics Committee.
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Source: HT
