Who Is Darshan Hiranandani, The Businessman Embroiled In 'Cash For Query' Controversy?
TMC's Mahua Moitra faces allegations of taking bribes from the businessman to ask questions in Parliament.
Darshan Hiranandani is in the middle of a controversy over allegations of paying bribes to Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra to ask questions in Parliament.
On Oct. 15, Bharatiya Janata Party MP Nishikant Dubey accused Moitra of taking "bribes" from Darshan Hiranandani, citing a complaint by a Supreme Court lawyer.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for Electronics and Technology, said in a post on X on Monday that if the reports of Moitra asking parliamentary questions "at the behest of a Data center company" are true, then it's "indeed shocking and shameful". "It is true that this company was actively and aggressively lobbying for Data Localization", he said referring to Hiranandani's business interests.
Moitra has rejected the allegations. The Mumbai-based real estate firm Hiranandani Group also denied the accusations.
"We have always been in the business of business and not in the business of politics. Our group has always worked with the government in the interest of the nation and will continue doing so," said a spokesperson of the Hiranandani Group.
Who Is Darshan Hiranandani?
Son of real-estate billionaire Niranjan Hiranandani, Darshan Hiranandani heads the unlisted property developer Hiranandani Group's real estate business in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
In India, Hiranandani Group has projects across Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Hyderabad.
An MBA and Bachelor of Science from Rochester Institute of Technology, New York, Darshan Hiranandani is engaged in the group's real estate business internationally and has been diversifying into emerging sectors such as data centres, cloud computing, energy, and industrial warehousing and logistics. He heads H-Energy Pvt. and runs data centers in Navi Mumbai and Noida.
List Of Businesses Owned By Him
The founder of Tez Platforms, a Hiranandani Group venture focused on tech-enabled consumer services business, since February 2022.
Managing Director of Nidar Group since January 2016. Nidar Group is his family office, through which he engages in investing in energy infrastructure, building natural gas pipelines, and gas storage terminals.
Founder of Yotta Infrastructure Solutions since April 2019. Yotta Data Services Pvt. is a Hiranandani Group company involved in datacenter co-location and tech services.
Founder of Greenbase—Industrial and Logistics Park since December 2018. It provides industrial and warehousing spaces across the country.
CEO of Hiranandani Communities, has been engaged in creating planned community townships since February 2014.
Founder of H-Energy Group of companies since April 2009.
The Controversy
On Sunday, Dubey wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla under the subject—Re-emergence of nasty 'Cash for Query' in Parliament, direct involvement of Mahua Moitra, Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) for serious 'Breach of Privilege', 'Contempt of the House' and a 'Criminal Offence' under Section 120-A of the IPC.
He cited a letter that he received from an advocate, saying that the lawyer has shared "irrefutable" evidence of bribes exchanged between the Trinamool Congress leader and a businessman. He also urged the Lok Sabha Speaker to constitute an inquiry committee to look into the charges against Moitra.
Moitra hit back, saying she "welcomes any move against her after the Lok Sabha Speaker is finished dealing with pending charges against him".
"I am using all my ill-gotten cash and gifts to buy a college/university in which Degree Dubey can finally buy a real degree," she said, tagging the Lok Sabha Speaker on social media platform X. "Finish the enquiries against him for false affidavits and then set up my enquiry committee," Moitra said in a series of messages.
Chandrasekhar said in his post that the language used in the parliamentary query is "very similar (linking need for data localization to data breaches) to that used when the head of this company met me".
Moitra hit back, saying that she had asked a question that was "valid" for all Indians.