Parliament’s budget session was washed out for a second consecutive day on Friday as opposition parties closed ranks to demand a discussion on allegations of fraud against the Adani Group and a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into its turmoil-hit firms.
Leaders of 16 Opposition parties met on Friday morning to chalk out a common strategy and later submitted adjournment notices in both Houses to suspend other business and discuss the extent of exposure of State Bank of India (SBI) and Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) to the Adani Group, which has seen market value north of $100 billion wiped out since American firm Hindenburg Research accused it of fraud.
When their notices were rejected, Opposition parties resorted to slogans and protests, prompting adjournments and delays in discussing the President’s speech.
“I have given a notice under Rule 267 today also, and we demand the constitution of a JPC or a Supreme Court-monitored time-bound inquiry of the matter. It is not the corruption of Adani alone, it is the corruption of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government. Adani has the protection of PM Modi,” Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh alleged.
Opposition leaders indicated, however, that the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha might run smoothly from 2pm on Monday as they want to raise the SBI and LIC issue during the discussion. “We want to participate in the debate and talk about SBI and LIC and who forced these two public sector enterprises to invest in Adani group,” said the Congress.
To be sure, SBI has said its exposure to the Adani Group is insignificant, and LIC has indicated that investors have no need to worry.
In the Lok Sabha, speaker Om Birla refused to admit any adjournment motion to discuss the Adani matter and told Opposition leaders, “You discuss the speech of the President, the Union budget and other important topics. I will give you enough time and enough opportunities in the House. Give notice for the topics you want to discuss. Shouting slogans is incompatible with the prestige of this House.”
But the Opposition didn’t budge, forcing two adjournments in the Lower House.
In the Rajya Sabha, chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar declined to admit similar notices under Rule 267 to suspend business. Dhankhar said he received 15 notices for consideration under Rule 267, and six from Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Syed Nasir Hussain, Pramod Tiwari, Kumar Ketkar, Amee Yajnik and Neeraj Dangi were “identical”.
While opposition members protested, Dhankhar said, “Parliament is the essence of democracy. Parliament is the North Star of democracy. It is a place of discussion and deliberation to realise the aspirations and dreams of the people and not a place of disturbance. We are required to work in accordance with rules.”
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said, “Opposition parties want to discuss the falling stock market, public money is in LIC and other government institutions. He did not allow discussion on China, inflation, unemployment. Do not allow any issue that they feel they would be embarrassed to discuss.”
Later, Congress chief whip in Rajya Sabha, Jairam Ramesh tweeted, “Parliament adjourned for another day because Opposition demands a JPC on PM-linked Adani issue that is playing havoc on the savings of crores of Indians. Modi sarkar says MPs are wasting public money. What about the crores people have lost over the last few days of MahaMegaScam?”
In the Rajya Sabha four members of the Congress, two each from Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Communist Party of India-Marxist, Bharat Rashtra Samithi’s K Keshava Rao, Aam Aadmi Party’s Sanjay Singh, Communist Party of India’s P Santhosh Kumar, and Shiv Sena’s Priyanka Chaturvedi gave notices for an adjournment motion. Dhankar rejected all of them.
Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said “the difference between the global financial community and India’s approach to allegations against Adani is stark”.
“Distant third parties like S&P Dow Jones remove Adani Enterprises on the severity of allegations. Our own regulators and government remain inactive and silent despite 10 days of mayhem,” she said on Twitter.
On Friday morning, 16 parties, including the Congress, RJD, AAP, DMK, SP, CPI, CPI-M, BRS, Shiv Sena (Thackeray), JDU, NCP and NC, met for another round of meeting at the office of Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge. TheTrinamool Congress did not attend the meeting, but was present in the Thursday meeting of opposition parties.
In the meeting, it was decided to press for a separate debate on the SBI-LIC issue, one of the leaders who attended the meeting said. Many leaders, however, favoured participating in the discussions on the President’s speech on Monday afternoon, the leader said.
Opposition leaders will again meet on Monday morning to decide on their strategy for the next week.
Mayhem in the Adani group companies was precipitated in the last week of January following a report by an American activist investor group Hindenburg, which accused the conglomerate of improper use of tax havens and stock manipulation, while also raising concerns over high debt levels.
The group denied the allegations, saying the short-seller’s narrative of stock manipulation has “no basis” and stems from an ignorance of Indian law. It has always made the necessary regulatory disclosures, it added.
On February 1, after Adani group companies were hammered on the stock market with its flagship companies losing over 28% value in a single day, the company abruptly decided to abandon a stake sale via a follow-on public offering, or an FPO.
Adani companies operate airports in major cities, build roads, generate electricity, manufacture defense equipment, develop agricultural drones, sell cooking oil and run a media outlet.
SBI chairman Dinesh Khara on Friday said the bank’s total exposure was 0.88% of its loan book. “We have lent to Adani (group) for projects having tangible assets and adequate cash. They have met obligations… our total exposure to Adani group is 0.88 per cent as of December 31,” he said.
“There’s no cause for concern for us,” he added.
Department of Investment and Public Asset Management secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey told Reuters that shareholders and customers of LIC should not be concerned about its exposure to the Adani group, as the insurer is a diversified long-term investor. “LIC has a well diversified portfolio and has its investments in many companies and the value of its investments keeps changing. LIC is a long term investor in the market,” he added.
