‘Clear That PM Is Protecting Adani’, Says Rahul Gandhi After Modi’s Speech

The Congress leader said that if embattled billionaire Gautam Adani is not Modi’s friend, “then he should have said let’s have an inquiry” into the allegations against his companies.

New Delhi: After Prime Minister Narendra Modi hit out at Rahul Gandhi during his speech in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, February 8, the Congress leader claimed that Modi was “shell-shocked” and did not reply to any of the questions he had raised about the BJP-led government’s alleged role in the meteoric rise of Gautam Adani.

During his reply to the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address, Modi dismissed the opposition’s criticisms of his government as “lies” and “false accusations” but did not mention Adani nor responded to the opposition’s demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee or Supreme Court-monitored probe into the Adani crisis. Gandhi had alleged on Tuesday in the Lok Sabha that Adani and Modi shared close links, saying it was a striking instance of crony capitalism. 

Portions of Gandhi’s speech in which he linked Modi and Adani were expunged from the Lok Sabha’s record on Wednesday.

According to Indian Express, Gandhi claimed on Wednesday that the prime minister was “shell-shocked” and “there was no answer” to his questions. “The prime minister did not give a single answer. I had not asked any complicated questions. I had only asked how many times he [Gautam Adani] had travelled with you, how many times you had met him there. Those were simple questions but there were no answers,” the Congress leader said.

He added: “I am not satisfied. It reveals the truth. The (PM’s) speech shows the truth. There was no mention of inquiry. If he [Adani] is not his friend, then he should have said let’s have an inquiry.”

“There are shell companies, benami money is being circulated and the prime minister did not say anything,” Gandhi said, claiming, according to Indian Express, “It is clear the PM is protecting him [Adani].”

“This is a very big scam. He did not even say that. He [Modi] is surely trying to protect him [Adani] and I understand this and there are reasons for it,” the Wayanad MP said.

When he was asked about Prime Minister Modi’s statement that the people of the country trust him, Gandhi said:

“That is fine. What I am saying is that it is an issue related to national security, India’s infrastructure. The Prime Minister should have said that we will conduct an inquiry, we will get it checked, we will look into what happened. It is a big scam. But he didn’t. He was trying to protect him (Adani). I understand why, I know the reason.”

AICC general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh in a tweet claimed that the strategy behind prime minister’s “so-called reply” in parliament was to divert, defame, and denigrate”. He said: “Divert Defame Denigrate Deny. The 4 Ds in PM’s own style that Describe his so-called reply in Parliament. Not a word—direct or indirect—on the Prime Minister’s links with his favourite businessman, Adani, or his ghotalas!”