BJP MP Nishikant Dubey and lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai have accused Mahua Moitra, Trinamool Congress MP, of accepting favors from Hiranandani in exchange for raising questions in Parliament.
The Trinamool Congress has stated that Moitra has already clarified her stance on the bribery allegations and that the party will now await the investigation by the parliamentary ethics committee, as it concerns her rights and privileges.
Moitra has filed a defamation suit against Dubey and Dehadrai in response to their allegations. Dubey’s complaint has been referred to Parliament’s Ethics Committee by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
The TMC has distanced itself from the controversy. Rajya Sabha MP O’Brien stated, “The party leadership has advised the member in question to clarify her position regarding the allegations. She has already done so. However, since this matter concerns an elected MP and her rights and privileges, let the appropriate forum of Parliament investigate the matter before the party leadership takes any decision.”
Darshan Hiranandani, the CEO of Hiranandani, a real estate-to-energy group, who allegedly paid Moitra to raise questions about Adani Group in Parliament, recently claimed in a signed affidavit that she targeted Gautam Adani in order to “malign and embarrass Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose impeccable reputation left no opportunity for the opposition to attack him.”
Vinod Sonkar, the chairman of the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee, has stated that he has received the sworn affidavit from Hiranandani. However, Moitra has raised doubts about the affidavit’s credibility, alleging that it was “drafted by the PMO” and that Hiranandani was compelled to sign it after being threatened with the “total shutdown” of his family’s businesses.