New Delhi: Hours after news broke that the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Attorney’s Office of the United States have charged billionaire Gautam Adani over his alleged role in a “massive bribery scheme,” the Congress has noted that the move vindicates the party’s longstanding demand for a probe into the industrialist’s scams.
Adani Group has called the charges “baseless” and denied them.
‘PM knows he will be implicated’
Leader of the opposition in the parliament, Rahul Gandhi renewed his attack on the Adani group in a press conference on the morning of November 21. He challenged PM Narendra Modi to arrest him but added that he was confident that Gautam Adani, who should be in prison, will not be arrested as the industrialist has the complete support of the prime minister.
“If Gautam Adani is arrested, the PM knows that he will also be implicated (for being complicit in his crimes),” he said.
Gandhi said that he has been raising concerns about the way the Adani-Modi duo has “hijacked Hindustan” that has led to loss of jobs, power price spike and inflation in the country.
He said that his primary message for people of this country is that Adani, with the help of Modi, has hijacked the institutions of this country, as the Congress had shown recently in the way SEBI chief Madhabi Buch was allegedly protected. He said Buch was responsible for protecting Adani stocks but she did not fulfil her primary role to protect retail share market investors. He added that the Congress will eventually expose the “political-bureaucratic” network of Adani which is being sheltered by none other than PM Modi.
“We will dismantle the nexus,” he said.
He also said that although he has no hope of a government probe being initiated by Modi, he demands a JPC probe and a thorough investigation into all of Adani’s projects. “If investigations reveal any wrongdoing by even opposition-ruled states, they should also be made subjects of probe, he said.”
As a LoP, Gandhi said, it was his responsibility to protect Indian citizens and he will keep raising the concern in the parliament in the upcoming parliament session and demand a JPC probe, too.
He said that the Adani group is being given institutional protection that has helped the industrial conglomerate to raise its valuation, and that in turn has allowed it to raise huge funds from banks and investors.
“[The] political finance, stock market, Adani ji nexus is dangerous for the country. Retail investors will be the most harmed but this is also dangerous for the country’s security. So much concentration of wealth in one group’s hand is dangerous for the future of this country. We demand Gautam Adani’s arrest and a thorough probe against his alleged wrongdoings,” Gandhi said.
Jairam Ramesh
Congress veteran Jairam Ramesh has posted on X that since January 2023, the Congress has been calling for a Joint Parliamentary Committee investigation into the various “Modani scams.”
Modani is a portmanteau of the last name of prime minister Narendra Modi and Adani.
“The Congress had asked a hundred questions in its Hum Adani ke Hain (HAHK) series bringing out the various dimensions of these scams and of the intimate nexus that has existed between the PM and his favourite businessman. These questions have remained unanswered.”
The indictment says that more than $250 million was promised in bribes to Indian government officials by the Adani group to secure solar energy contracts.
Congress has also highlighted SEBI’s lack of action in probing the purported nexus between Adani and various governments – now thrown in contrast:
“The SEC’s actions also cast poor light on the manner in which its Indian counterpart, namely SEBI, has gone about investigating violations of securities and other laws by the Adani Group and its abject failure to hold the Group to account for the source of its investments, shell companies, etc.,” he said.
The party has reiterated its demand for a JPC into the transactions of the Adani Group, “which is leading to growing monopolisation in key sectors of the Indian economy, fuelling inflation, and posing huge foreign policy challenges as well, especially in our neighbourhood.”
The indictment mentions that Gautam Adani personally met with an Indian government official to advance a bribery scheme.
It is noteworthy that in 2021, the Communist Party of India (CPI) had demanded the Andhra Pradesh government disclose the details of a secret meeting between then chief minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and Adani, following which the Andhra Pradesh state cabinet adopted resolutions to allow Adani group to set up 9,000 megawatt solar power plants in the state.
The party had asked why the contract was given to Adani alone when several contractors, and some closer home, could be divided the project.
