New Delhi: Leading the Opposition attack over the Adani-Hindenburg issue in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday linked Gautam Adani's meteoric rise to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's coming to power and said "magic" happened after 2014 that propelled the businessman from the 609th to the second spot on the global rich list. The Congress leader's remarks drew a sharp response from the treasury benches, with Law Minister Kiren Rijiju asking him not to level "wild allegations" and furnish proof of his claims. Speaker Om Birla disapproved of the Congress leader displaying two pictures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi - one in which he can be seen with Adani inside a plane and the other in which he is getting down from a plane which has an Adani logo on it - to highlight their alleged proximity.


COMMERCIAL BREAK
SCROLL TO CONTINUE READING


Gandhi also listed the examples of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka visits of the prime minister to claim that following the trips Adani got contracts there.


In June 2022, the chairman of Sri Lanka's Ceylon electricity board informed a parliamentary hearing that President Rajapaksa told him that PM Modi "pressured" him to give the wind power contract to Adani, Gandhi alleged.


This is not India's foreign policy but a policy to enhance Adani's businesses, the Congress leader said.


"I was asked by the people during the Yatra as to why LIC's money is being put in the Adani group. They also asked Adani's shares, which are volatile, why LIC's funds are being put in it. I want to say, how do the government and PM help Adani -- thousands of crores of (money from) public sector banks is given to Adani," he said.


"First, Modi used to go in Adani's plane now the businessman goes in the prime minister's aircraft," Gandhi said.


Participating in the debate, Gandhi also questioned the Agniveer scheme for recruiting defence personnel claiming that youths aspiring to be in the army were not on the same page as the government on the scheme.


Senior officers have said the scheme will weaken the army and it came from outside the Army, from the RSS and Home ministry, he claimed.


"They said that the Agniveer scheme came from outside and (National Security Advisor) Ajit Doval had forced it on the forces," Gandhi said, evoking objections from the treasury benches which claimed that the official's name should not be taken.


He said the main concerns of the people such as unemployment and price rise were not even mentioned in the president's address.


"Previous speaker from the BJP encapsulated it very well for me, 'Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, working together is success, Adani ji and Narendra Modi ji...Thank you," Gandhi said.


Speaker Birla said that comments should not be made outside the House that mics are turned off, to which Gandhi said, "It is the reality that you do turn off the mics."


Outside Parliament, BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad hit out at Rahul Gandhi, saying he has made "baseless, shameless and reckless" allegations against PM Modi.


Congress and its leaders were involved in all big scams which tarnished the image of India, he alleged.