Opposition parties were expected to participate in the discussion on the President’s speech in Parliament on Monday after disrupting the House for two days over the demand for a probe into allegations of stock manipulation and accounting fraud against the Adani Group.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said they have called a meeting of opposition parties on Monday morning before a protest in front of the Gandhi statue at 10am.
Most parties want a resumption of the debate but have remained divided over the joint parliamentary committee probe. They were expected to corner the government over the exposure of the State Bank of India and the Life Insurance Corporation of India to the Adani Group, which has faced a rout of share prices of its listed firms.
Congress and some of its allies are firm on the demand for the parliamentary penal. Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Aam Aadmi Party were among the parties backing a Supreme Court-monitored probe.
In a tweet, TMC lawmaker Derek O’Brien said unless the Union government disrupts Parliament, the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address will begin in both Houses on Monday at 2pm.
US-based short seller Hindenburg Research on January 24 accused the Adani Group of being engaged in “brazen stock manipulation” and “accounting fraud” via “a vast labyrinth of offshore shell entities.”
The group has dismissed all allegations. It called Hindenburg‘s report an “attack on India and its independent institutions”. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said that India’s image has not been affected due to the controversy.
Congress has accused the government of misusing federal investigative agencies and questioned what action has been taken if ever to investigate the serious allegations made over the years against the Adani Group.
Hindenburg’s report led to a fall in the share prices of the Adani Group’s listed companies. It accused the conglomerate of improper use of tax havens and stock manipulation. The report raised concerns over the group’s high debt levels.
On February 1, Adani Group companies were hammered on the stock market with its companies losing over 28% value in a single day. The company later abruptly decided to abandon its ₹20,000 crore follow-on public offering, the largest in India.
