New Delhi:

Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra frequently interacted with journalists from Financial Times, the New York Times, the BBC, and several national publications, businessman Darshan Hiranandani claimed in an explosive affidavit today. The businessman found himself in the centre of a political whirlpool after BJP MP Nishikant Dubey accused Ms Moitra of taking cash and favours from the Hiranandani Group to question the Adani group and target Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“She (Mahua Moitra) also had frequent interactions with international journalists from the Financial Times, the New York Times, the BBC, and also with several Indian publications,” the affidavit claimed.

The firebrand MP was “fed unverified information about Gautam Adani and his companies” by several lawyers and Indian journalists, it alleged.

“Ms Moitra, in her endeavour, was getting help from other people like Sucheta Dalal, Shardul Shroff, and Pallavi Shroff, who were also in touch with her, and who were feeding her with all kinds of unverified information relating to Gautam Adani and his companies,” the affidavit, accessed by NDTV, read.

“She also received unverified details from several sources, including some claiming to be former Adani group employees. Certain information was shared with me, based on which I continued to draft and post questions using her parliamentary login whenever needed,” Mr Hiranandani said.

Journalist Suchet Dalal, however, denied being personally acquainted with Ms Moitra and sought the government’s help to “prevent this kind of slander by some crooks”.

This is completely stupefying — I do not know @MahuaMoitra personally at all – I may have retweeted some of her stuff. I don’t know Pallavi Shroff and I used to know #ShardulShroff long ago. I dare anyone to find any links between me and them. Requesting IT minister @Rajeev_GoI… https://t.co/uwJ5JymOc3

— Sucheta Dalal (@suchetadalal) October 19, 2023

“This is completely stupefying — I do not know Mahua Moitra personally at all – I may have retweeted some of her stuff. I don’t know Pallavi Shroff and I used to know Shardul Shroff long ago. I dare anyone to find any links between me and them. Requesting IT minister Rajeev Chandrashekhar to help me get to the bottom of it. Ashwini Vaishnaw also please help. This is one time the government ought to help prevent this kind of slander by some crooks,” she wrote on X.

Last week, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, citing a letter he received from advocate Jai Anand Dehadrai, accused Ms Moitra of accepting money and favours from businessman Darshan Hiranandani to ask questions in Parliament to target PM Modi and the Adani Group. The MP went to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla with his complaint and demanded Ms Moitra’s immediate suspension.

Following this, the Speaker referred the matter to the Lok Sabha ethics committee, which asked the BJP MP and advocate Jai Anand Dehadrai for a hearing on October 26.

The Trinamool Congress MP has denied all allegations and said she is prepared to face a probe.

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