The indictment of Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani by prosecutors in the US for allegedly offering Rs 2,029 crore in bribes to Indian government officials triggered a political firestorm Thursday with Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi demanding Adani’s immediate arrest and alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was “protecting” him.
The ruling BJP, in turn, accused the Congress of “attacking the Indian market and trying to make it tank to damage the Indian economy”. It said the “matter pertains to the time between July 2021 and February 2022” when “Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Odisha all had non-NDA governments… they had governments of the Congress or their allies”.
The Left parties said the CBI must be directed to immediately file a case based on the material provided by the prosecution in the US. “Prime Minister Modi himself had shielded Adani from any enquiry or prosecution on the charges emanating from the Hindenburg expose… The Modi government cannot hide behind any smokescreen now,” the CPM said.
The TMC said “only a judicial probe will expose the truth”.
Addressing a press conference, Rahul Gandhi made it clear that the Congress would raise the issue in Parliament, signalling that the winter session starting Monday could witness stormy scenes.
“It is now pretty clear and established in America that Mr Adani has broken both American law and Indian law. He has been indicted in the United States and I am wondering why Mr Adani is still running around as a free man in this country. Chief Ministers have been arrested. Jharkhand Chief Minister was arrested. Many, many people have been arrested. Mr Adani has apparently done one Rs 2,000 crore scam, multiple others probably. But he is scot free. He is running around. There is no problem. There is no investigation,” he said.
“We have been raising this again and again and again. We have been raising this with the (SEBI chairperson) Madhabi Buch issue. It is a vindication of what we have been saying. The Prime Minister is protecting Mr Adani. And the PM is involved in corruption with Mr Adani. This has been clearly indicated. We are demanding that Adani should be arrested… Today itself… Madhabi Buch, who was his protector, should be removed and an investigation initiated against her,” Gandhi alleged.
On whether he would raise the issue in Parliament, he said, “We are raising this issue. It is my responsibility as LoP to raise this issue. The PM is protecting him 100 per cent. This individual (Adani) has amassed India’s assets through corruption, this individual supports the BJP… all these are established things. We will keep reiterating that.”
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge reiterated the Congress demand for a Joint Parliament Committee probe into “every aspect of the working of the Adani Group, the deliberate institutional erosion of the SEBI, SECI and government bodies, and the deals of Adani Group in foreign countries.”
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra sought to distance the party and the government from the Adani Group, saying that so far as the case against the company was concerned, it was for the company, and not the BJP, to answer the allegations. “Law will take its own course.”
He accused the Congress of trying to damage Indian markets through propaganda, and sought to know why Congress governments in many states had welcomed investments by the Adani Group. Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters, Patra dared the Congress to go to court against the company rather than making accusations through press conferences.
“The matter relates to the agreement for sale and purchase of electricity, and the agreement with state distribution companies. Which are the four states mentioned in the US court? The matter pertains to the time between July 2021 and February 2022. Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Odisha all had non-NDA governments at that time. They had neither our CMs nor ruling parties supported by us. But they had governments of the Congress or their allies,” he said.
“Rahul Gandhi has said he has no objection to any of his ex-CMs or leaders being interrogated. All right. Let there be interrogation of Bhupesh Baghel. We have no problem. You file a case,” he said. The electricity bills of these states, he said, were not being generated by the Modi government but by state governments.
He accused Gandhi of having an “international structure” in US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar and billionaire investor George Soros. “Your structure wants to dent Indian markets. The Gandhi family and the Congress are unable to tolerate that we are moving towards being the third largest economy of the world. That is why they are attacking the Indian market and trying to make it tank to damage the Indian economy. About 2.5-crore small investors who had invested in the share market have had to suffer losses today,” he said.
Patra sought to know that if Modi was behind Adani, why did Adani invest Rs 25,000 crore in Chhattisgarh when Baghel was CM, Rs 65,000 crore in Rajasthan when Ashok Gehlot was the CM, Rs 35,000 crore in West Bengal, Rs 60,000 crore in Andhra Pradesh, Rs 4500 crore in Tamil Nadu, and promised Rs 1 lakh crore of investment in Karnataka under a Congress government.
“On October 19, 2024, Adani Foundation donated Rs 100 crore to Revanth Reddy, Chief Minister of Telangana, for skill uplift. Why did your government take donations from a corrupt man? On January 23, 2024, Revanth Reddy went to the World Economic Forum and the Congress government of Telangana signed a Rs 12400-crore MoU with the Adani Group? Is Rahul different from his Chief Ministers? He will have to reply to this.”
Responding to Gandhi’s claim that Modi’s credibility has been dented, Patra said the Congress had been trying to finish Modi’s credibility since 2002, but could never dent it.
