Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Lok Sabha amid the row over the Adani group of companies and accused him of assisting Gautam Adani to expand his business empire in various sectors since he came to power in 2014. He further alleged that the Centre is favouring only one corporate 'who gets all the contracts, including the overseas ones'.
"Adani ji never fails in any business he ventures into - solar energy, wind energy. During my yatra people asked me how Adani attained such success in so many sectors, what is his relationship with the Prime Minister," Rahul Gandhi said.
Besides pointing to the meteoric rise of Adani’s wealth between 2014 and 2022, Gandhi claimed that rules were bent by the Centre to benefit him. "After the BJP took over the government in 2014, the existing rule that only a company/person only with an experience in airports be given the responsibility of developing them was changed, and six airports were handed over to Adani," Gandhi said.
He also alleged that the billionaire had secured businesses in countries Prime Minister visited. "Earlier he used to travel in Adani's aircraft and now Adani travels with Modiji in his aircraft. First the matter was limited to Gujarat then the country and now he has become international," Gandhi said.
"The Prime Minister went to Australia and by magic, SBI gave a $1 billion loan to Adani. The PM goes to Bangladesh and then the power development board of the country signs a 25-year contract with Adani," Rahul Gandhi added.
However, his charges in Lok Sabha drew a sharp response from the treasury benches, with Law Minister Kiren Rijiju asking him to not level "wild allegations" and furnish proof of his claims.
Senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad condemned the allegations, calling them "baseless", and hit back at Congress over its alleged involvement in "big scams" of the country. "The whole ecosystem of Congress is based on twin pillar of deal and commission," he said.
Prasad said the National Herald case, the AgustaWestland scam, Rajiv Gandhi Trust and various others scams took place during the Congress rule. "I need to remind him, 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.
The opposition has been demanding a discussion in Parliament over the Adani row since the start of the Budget session. However, the proceedings of the Parliament witnessed adjournments after the government's denial to hold discussions leading to protests by opposition leaders.
Stocks of Adani Group companies have plummeted since January 24, when the Hindenburg Research report had come to light. Adani Group’s flagship firm Adani Enterprises along with two others was even put on the Additional Surveillance Measure list by National Stock Exchange (NSE) and Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
(With inputs from agencies)