Sravasti Dasgupta 
New Delhi: Members of the opposition Congress in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday (December 3) sought to know whether any reference to businessman Gautam Adani is “parliamentary or unparliamentary” after treasury benches raised protests to mentions to the businessman during the debate on the Bharatiya Vayuyan Vidheyak, 2024 Bill.
The bill that seeks to replace the 90-year-old Aircraft Act, was moved by Union minister for civil aviation Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu for passage in Rajya Sabha. It was earlier passed by the Lok Sabha in August.
‘AAI should be renamed as Adani Airport Authority of India’
During the discussion on the bill, Congress MP Syed Naseer Hussain said that the NITI Aayog and the Finance Ministry had raised objections during the bidding of six airports that were awarded to the Adani Group.
“Airport Authority of India should have been renamed as Adani Airport Authority of India. In 2019, Modiji gave major airports including Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Lucknow to his dear friend. I want to state on record that the NITI Aayog and the Finance Ministry had objected during the bidding process of six airports,” said Hussain.
“When this proposal came to the Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee, the Department of Economic Affairs said that a single bidder should be given two airports. So how did he get six airports? The government should tell the country. Modiji gave six airports to his friend. Apart from this NITI Aayog had also stated that any bidder without sufficient technical capacity should not be given any airport,” he added.
Hussain said that it is not known that what technical capacity Adani had that he was given six airports. The Congress MP said that the common man is being “looted” in these airports and said that the landing fees, user development fees all have increased.
“The government is working for its few friends, indulging in crony capitalism. They have spoken about privatising 25 other airports. Here too Adani is saying he will make bids. Our prime minister will not listen to anyone and give all these 25 airports to Adani,” he said.
When Hussain referred to the bribery allegations against the Adani group in the U.S, and the allegations of stock market manipulation revealed by the Hindenburg report, BJD MP Sasmit Patra who was presiding over the House asked him to abide by the contents of the legislation amid protests from the Treasury benches.
BJP MP Laxmikant Vajpayee raised a point of order citing Rule 110 and sought that his remarks be expunged.
Congress leaders ask why mentioning Adani is unparliamentary
Congress MP Pramod Tiwari then stood up and said that those who are operators and promoters within the aviation industry are liable to be included in the discussion on the legislation.
“When the aviation policy will be discussed, its operator, promoter and owner will also be discussed. Can such a discussion take place without taking their names? And secondly, is the word ‘Adani’ parliamentary or unparliamentary?” asked Tiwari.
While Patra said that those portions of the speech that did not concern the legislation will be kept out of the records of the discussion, Hussain once again rose to ask what was unparliamentary about his speech.
“What was unparliamentary in what I said? Was business promoter unparliamentary? How our foreign policy is being structured to favour one man is that unparliamentary? Is this not true that the prime minister goes to Bangladesh and Adani gets a contract and the same happens in Sri Lanka, Malaysia? I have not used a single word that is unparliamentary,” said Hussain.
Amid protests from the Treasury benches, Patra ruled that any references that are not related to the legislation will not be taken.
Earlier in the day, prior to parliament proceedings starting, members of the opposition held a protest outside Makar Dwar demanding a probe into the bribery allegations against Adani. Opposition members held placards and a banner stating “Modi and Adani are one”. However, members from the Samajwadi Party and the TMC were absent from the protest.
Both houses functioned on Tuesday after a week of virtually conducting no business as opposition MPs had demanded a discussion on the allegations against the Adani Group, violence in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal, ongoing violence in Manipur, among others.