Cash for query: 'Affidavit' spirals Moitra into controversy; here's a list of major allegations

TMC MP Mahua Moitra.

Credit: PTI File Photo

The ‘Cash for query’ scam case has boiled down to untasteful politics with businessmen Darshan Hiranandani, the CEO of Hiranandani Group, filing an affidavit against Mahua Moitra, alleging that he had given gifts to her in exchange for raising questions in Parliament about the Adani Group.

Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra, in response, has expressed ‘shock’ and refuted all claims made in the ‘affidavit’ as a ‘joke’, saying it was drafted by "some half-wit in the PMO" who also "doubles up as a creative writer in the BJP's IT Cell".

"I have neither time nor interest to feed a Adani-directed media circus trial or answer BJP trolls. I am enjoying Durga Puja in Nadia. Shubho Sashthi," she further said on X. 

Amid all the rake up that the case has caused, here’s a look at the rather long list of Hiranandani’s claims against Trinamool MP. 

1. Darshan Hiranandani has claimed that as his friendship with Moitra grew closer, she began asking for favours and ends that involved his ‘time.’ He claims that Moitra was dominating in nature and assertive in her temperament, expecting him to urgently meet her needs and hence slowly took ‘control of his time and action’. 

2. Taking a dig at the woman parliamentarian’s ambitiousness, the businessman has claimed that Moitra was advised by her friends and advisors that the shortest route to fame was by personally attacking PM Narendra Modi, who he says was so ‘impeccable’ that Moitra realized that the only way to go about it "was to attack Gautam Adani".

3. Hiranandai then goes on to claim that Adani had created jealousy and detractors amongst sections of ‘business, politics and media’, that seemed to have aided Moitra in extracting support from these sections.

4. He claims Moitra knew that the Indian Oil Corporation was considering a long-term off-take agreement with Dharma LNG, a joint venture of the Adani Group and not with Hiranandani. Based on this information, Darshan claims that Moitra drafted questions to be raised in Parliament to embarrass the government by targeting Adani, for which she shared "her email id as Member of Parliament, so that Hiranandani could send her information." He admits having gone along with the alleged proposal.

5. He goes on to allege that Moitra was happy with the response and support she received from the Opposition and that she shared her login and password so that he could directly pose questions on her behalf, claiming he continued to do so. 

6. The businessman then names people and organisations with whom Moitra was "frequently in touch with to help her in her endeavours" and who, Hiranandani claims, fed Moitra with ‘unverified information’, and these are "Sucheta Dalal, Shardul Shroff, Pallavi Shroff, Rahul Gandhi, journalists from Financial Times, BBC, New York Times, some Indian publications, former Adani Group employees, etc". 

7. The ‘affidavit’ states that Moitra made frequent demands of Hiranandani, and asked him for various favours which he ‘had to fulfill in order to stay close to her and get her support.’ The demands, as per his claims, included luxury items, travel expenses, holidays, etc, apart from ‘secretarial and logistical’ help for travels within India.

8. He says he felt Moitra was taking ‘undue advantage’ of him and pressuring him to do things he didn’t want to. 

He makes a closing remark, stating that since the matter has snowballed into political controversy, he takes it upon himself to reveal the facts in public interest.