New Delhi: Even as opposition parties continue to attack the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the corruption allegations against industrialist Gautam Adani, the two shared the same stage after a long time on Monday (December 9)
Both Modi and Adani participated in the Rising Rajasthan Summit in Jaipur on Tuesday, incidentally on the same day when opposition MPs held protests in parliament premises and raised slogans of “Modi Adani Bhai Bhai”, reiterating their allegations about collusion between the Prime Minister and the industrialist.
Opposition members have been consistently demanding a discussion on the bribery charges against the Adani Group and have accused the BJP-led government in the Centre of going easy on Adani, who has been charged in the US with alleged bribery of public officials in India and securities fraud. The Adani group has denied all the allegations.
While Adani was among the industrialists who participated the Rising Rajasthan Summit organised by the Bhajan Lal Sharma-led BJP government in Rajasthan, Prime Minister Modi addressed the inaugural session of the Summit on Tuesday.
Later, the Adani Group announced that it plans to invest over Rs. 7.5 lakh crore in Rajasthan, across various sectors, reported the Press Trust of India.
Speaking at the Summit, Modi said that today every expert and investor in the world is very excited about India.
“In the last ten years, India has become the 5th largest economy from the 10th largest. In the last ten years, India has almost doubled the size of the economy. India’s exports have also almost doubled in ten years,” said Modi.
He added that the fact that democracy is flourishing in a diverse country such as India is an achievement.
“Welfare of humanity while being democratic is at the core of India’s philosophy. The people of India are voting for a stable government in India through their democratic right. The youth power is taking this forward,” he said.
In recent times, several important economic indicators have registered a slump, including falling value of rupee and decline in corporate earnings, painting a grim picture of the economy. India’s economic growth in the July-September quarter slowed to 5.4 per cent, which is the lowest figure in seven quarters.
In 2023, Hindenburg Research had accused the Adani group of “brazen stock manipulation” and “accounting fraud scheme” in January last year, noting that the company is “pulling the largest con in corporate history”. The Adani group had rejected all these allegations.
As The Wire has noted before, the report by Hindenburg gave way to several investigations, including by the Morning Context, OCCRP and Financial Times, that have highlighted alleged malpractices by the Adani group, particularly in its use of offshore havens.
The Adani Group has consistently denied all the corruption allegations against it.
