TMC MP Mahua Moitra’s alleged scandal of getting favours for questioning against Gautam Adani in the parliament has become the talk of the town for the past few days. But what emerged during the rounds of accusations and counter-accusations between Mahua Moitra, her collaborator-turned-approver Darshan Hiranandani and Mahua Moitra’s former ‘close aide’ advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai is not less than a prime-time ‘saas-bahu’ drama typically seen on ay Indian TV channel.
The lead characters in the Mahua Moitra story
This story has drama, infatuation, separation, politics, business, emotions, and whatnot. The expensive gifts allegedly received by Mahua Moitra have raised the budget of the story. This whole story has a ‘Samdhi’ angle, a ‘bhai’ angle, and most importantly a so-called ‘jilted ex’. Readers may recall a song at the end of the story – ‘Thukra ke mera pyar mera intekam dekhegi’ meaning you will see my revenge after rejecting my love. Besides, there is a journalist Sucheta Dalal who is asking the TMC MP back – Hum Aapke Hain Kaun? – only after writing articles praising the accused lady crusader.
There is also a cute little dog who has lost everything in the turn of events. This dog once enjoyed its life in the laps of a democratically elected lady lawmaker showering kisses on the pup. Now this dog has become the subject of a heated custody battle and has been reduced to a topic of some petty police FIRs over the veracity of its ownership and allegations of theft. So, without wasting a moment, let us dive into the details of the complicated relationships in this story as intriguing as some daily soap serial.
It began with the ‘jilted ex’
People may call ‘jilted ex’ a ‘bhadka hua ashiq’ in Hindi. But for the premise of this story, we will go by the classical definition. If someone is jilted, the person they are having a romantic relationship with suddenly ends the relationship in a surprising and upsetting way. Mahua Moitra has called advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai her ‘jilted ex’.
The story starts with advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai writing a letter to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Lok Sabha MP Nishikant Dubey. In this letter, Dehadrai made some startling revelations about TMC MP Mahua Moitra, claiming that she was paid to ask questions in Lok Sabha targetting the Adani Group. Based on this letter, the BJP MP sent a formal complaint to the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla seeking an inquiry against Moitra and urging the Speaker for her immediate suspension. The reasons for such demands by the lawyer were revealed in the chapter where this all story was broken.
Then came a political angle in the story
On 15th October, Nishikant Dubey levelled serious allegations of bribery against Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra, based on details provided by advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai. In his complaints, Advocate Dehadrai alleged that Moitra was paid in cash and gifts for asking questions in Parliament that favoured tycoon Darshan Hiranandani’s business interests primarily against Gautam Adani. Following the allegations, Mahua Moitra claimed that a “jilted” ex was framing her, referring to the advocate.
Mr A – this lame statement your best efforts? Falling back on Fake Degree MP & a jilted ex’s lies? I won’t rest till @dir_ed , @CBItweets investigate & freeze ₹13000 cr coal scam you have stolen from Indians.
— Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) October 16, 2023
I’m told even Hon’ble @narendramodi is sick of you & your frauds. pic.twitter.com/sfwsmJEKft
On 16th October (Monday), the Adani Group released an official statement reiterating that some groups and individuals, both inside and outside India, have been engaged in a smear campaign to besmirch the repute and harm the interests of the Adani Group. In the official letter, the Adani group spokesperson highlighted reports that indicated a “quid pro quo” between Member of Parliament Mahua Moitra and Darshan Hiranandani, CEO of Hiranandani Group. Mahua Moitra’s X post regarding the ‘jilted ex’ came in response to the same press release by the Adani Group. In this post, she called Gautam Adani ‘Mr A’ which further adds spice to the story.
Mahua Moitra sent a legal notice to her “jilted ex”
In response to the formal complaint submitted to the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla by Nishikant Dubey, seeking an inquiry against Mahua Moitra, the TMC MP sent a legal notice to the BJP Lok Sabha MP and advocate and her former “personal friend” Jai Anant Dehadrai and a multiple media organisations for allegedly ‘defaming’ her.
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey writes a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla demanding to constitute an inquiry committee against TMC MP Mahua Moitra and her 'immediate suspension' from the House alleging that 'bribes were exchanged between her and businessman Darshan Hiranandani to ask… pic.twitter.com/pbqlMgbCvD
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) October 15, 2023
Mahua Moitra claimed that Nishikant Dubey went against her interest because she had doubted his educational credentials in the past. On advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai, she claimed that they were once “close friends” but after a falling out, Dehadrai allegedly repeatedly threatened Moitra with several vile, malicious and vulgar messages, trespassed on her official residence, stole personal belongings, including Moitra’s dog.
Billionaire Darshan Hiranandani turns approver
In what turned out to be a huge blow to the TMC MP, Darshan Hiranandani reportedly decided to become an approver in this case. In a statement issued by Hiranandani on 19th October, the billionaire businessman accepted paying for most of the questions asked by Mahua Moitra in the Lok Sabha in the form of cash and gifts. He also acknowledged that the TMC MP provided him with her Parliamentary login credentials which he used to ask questions to the central government on her behalf.
Darshan Hiranandani turns approver, corroborates Jai Anant Dehadrai. pic.twitter.com/oXk7NeGQwv
— Marya Shakil (@maryashakil) October 19, 2023
Hiranandani also said that Mahua Moitra was getting unverified information to target Gautam Adani from various people, including journalist Sucheta Dalal and lawyers Shardul Shroff and Pallavi Shroff.
Darshan Hiranandani is the son of Indian billionaire businessman Niranjan Hiranandani and holds a key position in his father’s real estate empire. Darshan Hiranandani is significantly engaged in managing the group’s international real estate ventures. The top real estate firm has been diversifying into other sectors, and many of them directly compete with Adani Group companies. This includes data centres, cloud computing, energy, and industrial warehousing.
His statement came a day after Lok Sabha Secretariat’s Privileges & Ethics Branch issued letters to Advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai and Bharatiya Janata Party MP Nishikant Dubey to submit evidence against Mahua Moitra.
Darshan Hiranandani was also very impressed by Mahua Moitra
Darshan Hiranandani’s statement revealed that he was also impressed by the qualities of the TMC MP. He wrote, “I found her to be knowledgable, expressive and outspoken. We exchanged contact details and remained in touch ever since. Over a period of time, she has been a close personal friend of mine. In the course of my interactions with her, I found her to be a bright intellectual and one of the public representatives who thoroughly understands both the economy and business matters. We used to communicate frequently on the telephone, ranging from weekly to daily calls. We frequently met when I came to India or when she visited Dubai.”
Darshan Hiranandani also found Mahua Moitra to be a dominating person
A dominating Saas (mother-in-law) is often seen in the TV serials. Here, besides estranged close friend of the advocate, Mahua Moitra also played a dominating lady. This added more interesting things to the story.
Darshan Hiranandani wrote in his statement, “As our interactions grew over time, she started asking for odds and ends which involved my time. Once she asked you for something, it was always a ‘drop everything and do it now for me’ approach. She was dominating by nature and assertive in her temperament. She would always say, it was always urgent and critical for her and would slowly take control of your time. It was a way of reeling in your interest and in some way controlling some of your actions.”
The emergence of the ‘Bhai’, ‘Samdhi’, and journalist angle in the story
Darshan Hiranandani said in his statement, “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 was feeding her with all kinds of unverified information relating to Gautam Adani and his companies.” This is how the names were introduced in the story. Hiranandani also claimed that Moitra was interacting with Rahul Gandhi over the Adani issue and “bonded extremely well” with Shashi Tharoor and Pinaki Mishra adding more names to the complex story.
To understand the next plot of the story, it is necessary to first know that Shardul Shroff is the brother of Cyril Shroff. Pallavi Shroff is the wife of Shardul Shroff. Cyril Shroff is the father-in-law of Gautam Adani’s son Karan Adani. So, Cyril and Shardul are sons of Suresh Amarchand Shroff, a former managing partner of the law firm Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A Shroff & Co. His grandfather started the firm in partnership with Mangaldas Mehta in 1917.
Cyril Shroff and Gautam Adani are samdhis, as Gautam Adani’s son Karan Adani is married to Cyril Shroff’s daughter Paridhi Shroff. Cyril Shroff and his brother Shardul Shroff were managing partners of Amarchand Mangaldas & Suresh A Shroff & Co, a top law firm. However, there was a rivalry between the two brothers over the firm, and they decided in 2015 to split the company. Shardul Shroff now runs Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co, while Cyril Shroff runs Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, India’s largest full-services law firm. The brothers and their respective wives are among the top corporate lawyers in the country.
Mahua Moitra’s reply to Hiranandani’s statement introduced the ‘Samdhi’ angle to the story
Mahua Moitra’s response to Darshan Hiranandani’s statement revealed her version of the story as well as some new sub-tracks in this Mahuagate. Mahua Moitra wrote, “Shardul Shroff is the brother of Cyril Shroff who has had a bitter separation of business from him.”
After explaining this Bhai angle, she went ahead to explain the Samdhi angle, as she wrote, “Cyril Shroff is Gautam Adani’s “samdhi” and was on the SEBI’s committee in total conflict of interest. Rahul Gandhi and Shashi Tharoor are both people the government targets relentlessly. Sucheta Dalal is an investigative journalist who is always exposing the government.”
Mahua Moitra also mentioned that as all these names were allegedly unfavourable to the ruling party and the Prime Minister, Darshan Hiranandani’s statement was drafted by someone working in the PMO in order to implicate all of them at once as this would be the best opportunity to do so.
Mahua Moitra wrote the second episode on the “jilted ex”
In her latest statement, Mahua Moitra went on to reveal more about her “jilted ex” advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai. She wrote, “This BJP government has been waiting to somehow shut me up on the Adani issue desperately. Jai Dehadrai is not some “Supreme Court lawyer” who has done painstaking research on me. He is a jilted ex with an acrimonious personal history with me who wanted to somehow get back at me. If indeed he was witness to all of my corruption why was he with me during the time and why did he wait till now to make it public?”
However, Mahua Moitra did not clarify much about the exact nature and reason for the acrimony that developed between her and her former close friend advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai. Meanwhile, media reports were flooded with Mahua Moitra’s photographs with Jai Anant Dehadrai where both are seen sharing a cigar. Both of them looked comfortable in the image, and no sign of any acrimony was noticed.
The sad sub-plot of Henry the dog
In a legal notice sent to Jai Ananat Dehadrai, Mahua Moitra alleged that the lawyer took away many of her belongings including a dog named Henry. The feud between TMC MP Mahua Moitra and her ‘jilted ex’ advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai got murkier with the duo fighting over the custody of this dog. Three days after the TMC MP sent a legal notice to her former personal friend accusing him of stealing her dog, Dehadrai wrote to the Delhi police commissioner accusing Mahua Moitra of stealing and hiding his pet dog Henry.
Heartless | TMC MP in Row
— Rohan Dua (@rohanduaT02) October 19, 2023
An emotional dog parent Jai Dehadrai tells Delhi Police: My bond with my dog Henry is of parent – child. I have looked after him since he was 40 days. Ms Mahua Moitra deliberately kidnapped & hid Henry since Oct 10 with intent to blackmail after CBI… pic.twitter.com/jwCd82bhOL
In an emotional letter penned to the Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora on October 19 (Thursday), Jai Anant Dehadrai alleged that Moitra deliberately kidnapped and hid his Rottweiler dog, Henry, with the intention to harass and blackmail him to avenge the complaint he had filed against her with the CBI, accusing Moitra of taking cash and gifts to ask specific questions in the Parliament.
Have never ever seen a dog less enthused by the prospect of cuddles pic.twitter.com/R9ham0zZY7
— Sensei Kraken Zero (@YearOfTheKraken) October 19, 2023
In his written complaint, the emotional dog parent Jai Dehadrai provided documents to prove his legal ownership of Henry, which he purchased in January 2021 from a private shop in Delhi’s Janakpuri area. Dehadrai also included proof of purchase documentation for the Rottweiler breed dog. These documents comprised a payment receipt, a litter’s registration certificate, and details on the litter’s microchip. Meanwhile, the social media was flooded with various videos in which Mahua Moitra was seen kissing the dog.
Sucheta Dalal in ‘Hum aapke hain kaun?’ mode
On Thursday (19th October), journalist Sucheta Dalal denied knowing Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra and helping her in targeting the Adani Group with unverified information. The development came hours after Darshan Hiranandani, the CEO of Hiranandani Group, turned approver in the ‘cash for query’ scandal (also called ‘MahuaGate’) and accused Dalal of aiding Moitra in defaming the Adani Group.
In a tweet, the ‘journalist claimed, “The very fact that he has named me makes this whole letter and his ‘solemn’ statements a farce — I don’t know Mahua Moitra and I think she can confirm it. The question of helping her simply does not arise, NOR did she EVER reach out and ask for any help either!”
Dear @bhupendrachaube — the very fact that he has named me makes this whole letter and his 'solemn' statements a farce — I don't know @MahuaMoitra – and I think she can confirm it. The question of helping her simply does not arise, NOR did she EVER reach out and ask for any… https://t.co/YEsXTTFLNt
— Sucheta Dalal (@suchetadalal) October 19, 2023
Several netizens pointed out that Sucheta Dalal, who claimed to not know Mahua Moitra personally, had sent information to the Trinamool Congress MP with respect to Essar Group. They shared a screenshot of the interaction between the journalist and the politician, who is now under fire over the ‘cash for query’ scandal.
Sucheta Dalal however claimed that the Twitter interaction was no proof of her personal comaraderie with Mahua Moitra.
Expensive gifts soared the budget of the Mahua drama
OpIndia accessed a copy of the complaint filed by Adv Dehadrai that contained a list of items that Moitra allegedly got in exchange for asking questions in the Parliament. These expensive gifts soared the budget of the Mahua drama.
Apart from luxury items, Advocate Dehadrai claimed Moitra received regular packets of cash in Indian Rupees and Pound Sterling. He further claimed to have seen her counting 20,000 pounds sterling at her residence. A detailed account of the expensive items received by the TMC MP can be read here.
So far, this story has taken many twists and turns of allegations, rebuttals, and emotional breakouts. It remains to be seen how it proceeds further as the Privileges & Ethics Branch of the Lok Sabha Secretariat has yet to hear and record the statements of the parties involved.
