Rahul Gandhi questions Adani’s rise under Modi

From displaying photographs of Narendra Modi and Gautam Adani together to claim their proximity to listing out business deals the Adani Group has got since 2014, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today led the Opposition attack over the Adani-Hindenburg issue accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government of pulling strings in his favour.

While his 53-minute speech in Lok Sabha was largely uninterrupted except for some interjections by Treasury benches, it set off a political firestorm with the BJP later recounting the scandals that rocked the UPA government and linking some to the Gandhi family.

Treasury benches repeatedly asked Gandhi to authenticate his claims, saying that such allegations cannot be levelled against the Prime Minister without documentary evidence to which Gandhi claimed he would do so.

Accusing the Modi government of flouting rules to facilitate the meteoric rise of the businessman since 2014 riding on an alleged nexus between Adani and the political establishment, Gandhi wrapped up his speech with pointed questions for Modi.

“How many times did you (PM) travel together with Adani on foreign trips? How many times did Adani join you later on a visit? How many times did Adani travel to a country immediately after you did? How many of these countries after you visited Adani got a contract…Also, an important question is how much money has Adani given to the BJP in the last 20 years… through electoral bonds,” Gandhi said.

Fresh from his 4000-km Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari to Jammu and Kashmir, Gandhi used the Parliament stage to ratchet up his “suit boot ki sarkar” and “hum do, hamare do (Adani-Ambani)” rhetoric to flag what he calls the BJP regime’s crony capitalism.

Today, his fusillade’s focus was Adani suggesting that the Congress plans to go all out against the Government on this in the run-up to the 2024 general elections. 

Incidentally, in the run-up to 2019, Gandhi had linked the PM to Anil Ambani in the Rafale fighter jet deal but his “chowkidaar chor hai” campaign against the Prime Minister failed to resonate with voters.

This time, he began by invoking the yatra as the place he heard from the unseen and unheard. Recounting conversations with farmers, tribals and the youth around issues like unemployment, price rise, MSP and the Agniveer, Gandhi said these found no mention in the President’s address.

He claimed “senior officers” told him the Agniveer scheme was not conceived by the Army, “it came from the Home Ministry, RSS… they told me (National Security Advisor) Ajit Doval thrust this scheme on the Army.”

The Adani theme, too, he said, found an echo in the yatra.

“From Tamil Nadu to Kerala, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh…everywhere we heard one name, Adani….Everywhere Adani, Adani, Adani…People asked me how it is possible that Adani tastes success in whichever sector he enters, he never fails. And they asked how Adani is entering every sector, he used to be in one or two sectors now he is eight-ten sectors: airports, data centers, cement, solar energy, wind energy, aerospace and defence, consumer finance, renewables, media, ports, they asked how Adani’s net worth rose from 8 billion dollars to 140 billion dollars from 2014 to 2022,” he said.

“How to use government power to build individual businesses” should be a case study in business schools, he added…”and Modi should be given a gold medal in this.”

Adani, Gandhi said, was ranked 609 in the list of richest people in 2014. “I don’t know what magic…he has reached No. 2 now…so people asked how has he become successful, how he has entered so many businesses and, most importantly, what is his relationship with India’s Prime Minister,” he said and displayed photographs of Prime Minister sitting with Adani in an aircraft and boarding a plane with an Adani logo.

“The relationship began many years ago when Narendra Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat and when most of India’s business was asking questions of the Prime Minister, was against the Prime Minister…one man stood shoulder to shoulder with the Prime Minister. That is commendable, he was loyal to the Prime Minister and he helped Modi construct the idea of a resurgent Gujarat…the result of that was tremendous growth of his business in Gujarat, expansion of his businesses,” he said.

Gandhi said the “real magic” started after Modi moved to Delhi in 2014.

“There was a rule that anybody who does not have prior experience in airports cannot be involved in development of airports. The Government changed this rule…and Adani was given six airports. After that India’s most strategic airport, profitable airport… Mumbai airport was taken away from GVK…hijacked by using agencies. By pressurising the GVK using CBI and ED…the Government gave that 
airport to Adani,” he alleged.

He said 24 per cent of the air traffic and 31 per cent of the freight traffic is handled by airports operated by Adani group. “The Indian government and the Prime Minister facilitated this,” he charged.

Similarly, in the defence sector, Gandhi said, the Adani group had no experience but makes drones in collaboration with an Israel firm. “Adani has never done this before, HAL and other companies in India had been doing this but the Prime Minister visits Israel and immediately after that Adani gets the contract,” Gandhi said.

He alleged the Adani group’s defence companies are involved in making “small arms which include Tavor which is used by our special forces, Galil sniper rifle.” He attributed this to the PM’s visit to Israel after which “90 percent of the India-Israel weapons business goes to Adani after one visit.”

Referring to the controversy surrounding Adani’s coal mining in Australia, Gandhi said: “The Prime Minister goes to Australia and by magic SBI gives a $1 bn loan to Adani. The Prime Minister goes to Bangladesh, his first trip, decides to sell electricity to Bangladesh and after some days Bangladesh Power Development Board signs a 25-year contract with Adani.”

Gandhi also flagged the allegations regarding award of a project to Adani in Sri Lanka in June 2022. “The Chairman of the Sri Lanka’s Electricity Board informed a Parliamentary committee in an open hearing that he was told by then President (Gotabaya) Rajapaksa that Prime Minister Modi pressured him to give the wind power project directly to Adani….So this is your foreign policy…this is not India’s foreign policy.. This is a foreign policy to build Adani’s businesses,” Gandhi said.

Referring to the exposure of LIC and public sector banks to the Adani group, Gandhi said the Hindenburg report had spoken about shell companies in Mauritius. He said that given Adani’s sprawling network across strategic sectors, its opacity was an issue of national interest. “Why (has) the government not (raised) questions on these shell companies? Who are these people, whose money is it?”

He said Adani had announced last year that he would invest $ 50 billion to build the world’s largest green hydrogen ecosystem. “And in this budget, Nirmala Sitharaman announces huge incentives for green hydrogen…Rs 19,700 crore which means it will be given to Adani,” he claimed.

- The Indian Express

- Agencies