Mahua Moitra said she turned down Adani’s “deal” and never met him in person even though the billionaire approached her twice in three years “via two Lok Sabha MPs”.
New Delhi: TMC MP Mahua Moitra on Friday levelled explosive charges against business magnate Gautam Adani, claiming that the Adani Group Chairman approached her twice in the last three via two Lok Sabha MPs and wanted to “work out a deal”.
Moitra, who is under the scanner of the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee after being accused by BJP leader Nishikant Dubey of asking questions in parliament at behest of businessman Darshan Hiranandani in exchange for cash and gifts, claimed that Adani wanted to sit down with her and offer her a deal but she rejected his advances and refused to meet him.
“Mr Adani has approached me via two Lok Sabha MPs in the last three years to sit across the table with him and work out a deal I have refused,” India Today quoted Mahua Moitra as saying.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader claimed Gautam Adani was offering her cash to not ask questions in the House.
“The issue is, he was giving cash to not question,” she said, according to India Today.
Moitra said she turned down Adani’s “deal” and never met him in person even though the billionaire approached her twice in three years “via two Lok Sabha MPs”. Mahua, however, did not name the two MPs who purportedly approached her on behalf of Adani.
“I never met him, so I don’t know why he was offering or what price he was paying,” Mahua Moitra was quoted as saying. The TMC leader also claimed that she was approached again last week and asked to keep quiet for six months till the 2024 polls are over.
“I was given the message: ‘Please end this. Please keep quiet for six months till the elections are over. Everything will be fine afterwards,” she claimed.
The purported “message” allegedly asked her to not involve PM Modi’s name. However, she can attack Adani “slightly” if she wants
“Even if you want to attack Mr Adani, you can do it slightly, but just don’t take the Prime Minister’s name’,” Moitra claimed, according to the India Today report.
Moitra seeks cross-examination of Hiranandani
Earlier today, Moitra wrote to the Lok Sabha’s Ethics Committee that is probing ‘cash-for-query’ allegations against her and expressed her inability to appear before it on October 31, saying she will be available only after November 5. The TMC leader also demanded that she should allowed to cross-examine businessman Darshan Hiranandani.
In her letter to panel chairperson Vinod Sonkar, Moitra said she “eagerly looks forward to physically attending and presenting her defence against the slanderous charges” and that she should be allowed to exercise her right to cross-examine businessman Darshan Hiranandani.
She also said Hiranandani should appear before the committee and provide a “detailed verified list of the alleged gifts & favours he allegedly provided to me”.
A day after Sonkar announced that she has been summoned on October 31, Moitra, in a post on X said is busy till November 4 on account of Durga Puja celebrations going on in West Bengal. In her letter, she said she would be available only after November 5.
She was in the Parliament House complex on Friday, apparently to submit the letter.
Sharing a copy of her letter on X, Moitra said, “Chairman, Ethics Comm announced my 31/10 summons on live TV, way before the official letter emailed to me at 19:20 hrs. All complaints & suo moto affidavits were also released to the media. I look forward to deposing immediately after my pre-scheduled constituency programmes end on Nov 4”.
The panel is probing BJP MP Nishikant Dubey’s allegations that Moitra accepted bribes and favours for asking questions in Lok Sabha at the behest of businessman Hiranandani. On Thursday, Dubey, and advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai gave “oral evidence” to the panel against the Trinamool Congress MP.
Moitra said she should be given “a fair hearing and an adequate opportunity to defend myself against the false, malicious and defamatory accusations levelled against me by Shri Dubey and Shri Dehadrai.”
“The Committee – against the order of natural justice, if I may humbly add- summoned and heard the complainants Shri Dubai (Dubey) & Shri Dehadrai on 26/10/2023 before allowing me, the alleged accused, a chance to be heard,” she said.
(With PTI inputs)