New Delhi
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday used the discussion on the President’s speech to attack the Centre over the sharp rise in the fortunes of the Adani Group, linking State foreign visits to global gains made by the tycoon, even as treasury benches hit back, asking for proof and blaming the Congress for past scams.
Gandhi, who completed the 3,800km-long Bharat Jodo Yatra last month, was backed by a raft of Opposition leaders who also spoke out against the Adani Group, which was accused of fraud by an American firm and has since suffered a stock price meltdown.
This included members from the Trinamool Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Communist Party of India. For the government, Union minister Smriti Irani, and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members Nishikant Dubey and Ravi Shankar Prasad led the charge, accusing Gandhi of making irresponsible allegations.
“What is the relationship between Indian Prime Minister and Adani? Earlier, Modi used to travel in Adani’s aircraft. Now the latter travels in the PM’s aircraft,” Gandhi said, sparking furious protests from BJP members.
“How many times did the two travel together? How many times Adani ji joined PM later during the visit abroad? And how many times during these trips did Adani ji bagged contracts?” Gandhi continued.
At this, Union minister Kiren Rijiju got up and asked him not to level “wild allegations” and to level proof of his claims. Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said Gandhi must “authenticate” his claimseven as Speaker Om Birla disapproved of Gandhi displaying photos apparently showing Modi and Gautam Adani together.
Gandhi’s combative speech came after three stormy days in Parliament marked by a largely united Opposition pushing the government to discuss charges of fraud against the Adani Group and interrupting proceedings. It set the stage for a reply by Modi on Wednesday in Lok Sabha.
A number of Opposition leaders also backed Gandhi, and demanded a joint parliamentary committee probe into allegations of fraud levelled against the Adani Group by American research firm, Hindenburg. “When we are talking about Adani, it becomes against the country. I am confused. Is talking against Adani talking against India?” DMK member K Kanimozhi said.
“I want to talk about the most famous person in India today… Unfortunately for this house, it is not the honourable Prime Minister. It is a man whose name starts with an “a” and ends with an “i, and no, it is not Advani. For the purposes of this speech, let me just call him Mr A and his group the A Company,” said Trinamool Congress member Mahua Moitra.
In his first parliamentary intervention since his five-month yatra, Gandhi sought to know how much money the Adani Group has given to the BJP through electoral bonds, demanded investigation into allegations of shell companies, dubbed the nexus between politics and business as a case study, and accused the government of bending rules and using agencies to give the Adani Group airport contracts.
He said the Adani group was given contracts in the airport and defence sectors without prior experience, and said, “The Hindenberg report says Adani has shell companies abroad. These companies are sending millions of dollars in India. This is a serious issue as Adani ji is present in strategic areas. He owns ports and airports and produces defence equipment. It is a duty of the Indian government to keep a watch on a company that is involved in such sectors.”
Gandhi alleged that the government tweaked rules in favour of Adani and did away with the clause that no one without any prior experience would be involved in the development of airports. He said this helped the group gain control of six airports.
“The rule was changed by the government and Adani was given six airports. After that India’s most strategic, profitable airport, Mumbai Airport, was taken away from GVK using agencies like the CBI, ED, and was given to Adani by the government of India,” he alleged.
The allegations sparked immediate protests from the treasury benches, who demanded that the Congress leader furnish proof to back his charges. They also pointed out that groups given airport contracts during the previous United Progressive Alliance government era didn’t have any prior experience.
“We condemn the baseless allegations levelled by Rahul Gandhi against our government while speaking in Parliament today,” said Prasad. “The whole ecosystem of Congress is based on twin pillar of deal and commission,” he added.
After the din died down, Gandhi continued, arguing that the Adani Group jumped from the 609th position to becoming the second-richest person in the world. “How did this magic happen?” Gandhi asked, speaking in Hindi.
“The relationship began many years ago when Narendra Modi was Gujarat CM. When most of India was asking questions of the Prime Minister, one man stood shoulder to shoulder with PM Modi, he was loyal to the Prime Minister and helped Mr Modi construct the idea of a resurgent Gujarat,” Gandhi said.
“Then the real magic starts, when the PM comes to Delhi and the real magic begins in 2014. In 2014, he was in 609th spot on the list of richest people and climbed to the second spot,” the former Congress chief added.
As Birla asked Gandhi to focus on the President’s address, the Congress leader said, “There should be a case study by business schools such as Harvard on the relationship between business and politics, India is a case study…”
The Congress leader linked deals by Adani in other countries — he mentioned Israel, Australia, and Sri Lanka — to interventions by the government or visits by the PM.
“The whole India-Israel defence ties have been handed over to Adani,” he said. This came a day after Modi accused the Opposition of using HAL to hurl lies and unsubstantiated allegations at him, in what was seen as a veiled reference to the Rafale deal controversy. He also cited a report that quoted the former chairman of Sri Lanka’s Ceylon electricity board as saying that then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa told him that Modi “pressured” him to give a wind power contract to Adani. The person in question later retracted his statement, and Rajapaksa denied the interaction.
In his 40-minute speech, Gandhi said people during the yatra asked him why Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) money was being put in Adani Group. “They also asked Adani’s shares which are volatile, why LIC’s funds are being put in it. I want to say, how does the government help Adani — thousands of crores of (money) of public sector banks is given to Adani,” he said.
Opposition parties want to discuss the extent of exposure of State Bank of India and LIC to the Adani Group, which has seen market value of around $110 billion wiped out since Hindenburg accused it of fraud. The government has said the matter was for regulators to look into and maintained that the meltdown would not hurt the economy. SBI and LIC have assured investors that their exposure to the group was not significant. Adani has denied all charges.
A number of Opposition leaders backed Gandhi.
Danish Ali of the BSP alleged the government has worked only for the benefit of corporates like Adani, adding that sugar mills have not paid dues running into thousands of crores to farmers.
CPI(M) member John Brittas said, “For the first time in the history of India, this government is using patriotism and nationalism for protecting black money. That is a charge I am going to make. They are using this as a shield.”
Gandhi’s allegations triggered a furious push back from BJP members both inside and outside the House.
The BJP’s Prasad, during his speech, hit back at the opposition parties.
“I need to remind him [Gandhi], that he, his mother and his brother-in-law are on bail. I want to ask him what are National Herald and AgustaWestland scandals,” said Prasad.