In a blow to TMC MP Mahua Moitra, businessman Darshan Hiranandani on Thursday turned approver in the “cash for query” controversy and said he had paid the politician to raise questions in Parliament about Adani Group. He said the TMC leader targeted business tycoon Gautam Adani to “malign and embarrass” Prime Minister Narendra Modi whose impeccable reputation gave the opposition no opportunity to attack him.

He submitted a signed affidavit admitting at using Moitra’s parliamentary login to ask questions targeting Adani after state-owned behemoth Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) booked capacity at the Gujarat-based conglomerate’s Dhamra LNG import facility in Odisha and not at his firm’s planned facility.

Here’s all you need to know about the businessman at the centre of the allegations against Moitra:

Hiranandani alleged that Moitra “made frequent demands” including “expensive luxury items, providing support on renovation of her officially allotted bungalow in Delhi, travel expenses, holidays, etc, apart from providing secretarial and logistical help for her travels within India and to different parts of the world”.

The CEO of real estate-to-energy group Hiranandani, he met Moitra at Bengal Global Business Summit in 2017 when she was an MLA. Hiranandani referred to the politician as his “close personal friend” in the affidavit. According to his LinkedIn profile, he is credited with founding Tez Platforms, Yotta Infrastructure Solutions, and Greenbase – Industrial & Logistics Park.

Hiranandani has an MBA and BS from Rochester Institute of Technology in New York. “Darshan Hiranandani is credited with taking the group’s real estate business international and diversifying in emerging sectors such as datacentres, cloud computing, energy, and industrial warehousing and logistics. A composed individual with a focused vision, he envisions meeting the country’s infrastructure requirements and contributing to its economic growth,” reads the profile.

The Hiranandani Group was founded by Darshan’s father Niranjan Hiranandani and uncle Surendra Hiranandani. It is involved in real estate and construction projects and known for developing residential and commercial properties.

(With PTI inputs)