“PM Modi goes to Australia and by magic, SBI gives a $1 bn loan to Adani: Rahul Gandhi
Rahul Gandhi, a senior member of the Congress, led the opposition’s attack on the Adani-Hindenburg controversy today, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government of organising things in Gautam Adani’s favour. Gandhi displayed photos of him and Gautam Adani together to prove their closeness and listed the business deals the Adani Group has secured since 2014.
Gandhi ended his address by challenging Modi, accusing him of breaking the law to allow the businessman’s meteoric rise since 2014, which was supported by an alleged connection between Adani and the political establishment.
“How many times did you (PM) travel together with Adani on foreign trips? How many times did Adani join you later on a visit? How many times did Adani travel to a country immediately after you did? How many of these countries after you visited Adani got a contract…Also, an important question is how much money has Adani given to the BJP in the last 20 years… through electoral bonds,” Gandhi said.
Gandhi highlighted his “suit-boot ki sarkar” and “hum do, hamare do (Adani-Ambani)” speeches on the Parliamentary platform to criticize what he calls the BJP regime’s crony capitalism.
In the lead-up to 2019, Gandhi had, incidentally, connected the Prime Minister to Anil Ambani in the Rafale fighter aircraft deal, but his “chowkidaar chor hai” campaign against the PM failed to link with the voters.
According to him, “senior officers” informed him that The Agniveer scheme was not conceived by the Army, “it came from the Home Ministry, RSS… they told me (National Security Advisor) Ajit Doval thrust this scheme on the Army.”
Read more- Will Rahul Gandhi Stop Bharat Jodo Yatra?
Gandhi said Adani was ranked 609 on the list of richest people in 2014. “I don’t know what magic…he has reached No. 2 now…so people asked how has he become successful, how he has entered so many businesses and, most importantly, what is his relationship with India’s Prime Minister,” he said and displayed photographs of Prime Minister sitting with Adani in an aircraft and boarding a plane with an Adani logo.
According to Speaker Om Birla, The Congress leader was not allowed to exhibit some images in the House
“If you show posters, they (BJP) will show posters of the Rajasthan chief minister (with Adani). Parliament is not for these things,” Birla said.
#WATCH | No posters please, if you will show posters then this side (BJP) will show poster of Rajasthan’s CM (with Gautam Adani). Showing posters isn't appropriate: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to Congress MP Rahul Gandhi pic.twitter.com/HHZIlymApr
— ANI (@ANI) February 7, 2023
Rahul Gandhi was interrupted by Speaker Om Birla, who advised him to “avoid talking outside the House when the Speaker turns off the microphone.”
Rahul replied, “But Speaker Sir, it is a fact that you turn off the microphone.” When discussing the motion of gratitude for the President’s address, Rahul launched a harsh attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Birla reprimanded Rahul, saying, “Aap pura samay bole” (you spoke the whole time).
“There was a rule that anybody who does not have prior experience in airports cannot be involved in the development of airports. The Government changed this rule…and Adani was given six airports. After that India’s most strategic airport, profitable airport… Mumbai airport was taken away from GVK…hijacked by using agencies. By pressurizing the GVK using CBI and ED…the Government gave that airport to Adani,” he claimed.
He said 24 percent of the air traffic and 31 percent of the freight traffic is handled by airports operated by the Adani group. “The Indian government and the Prime Minister facilitated this,” he charged.
He claimed that the defence companies owned by the Adani group are engaged in producing “small arms, like the Tavor, which is utilized by our special forces, and the Galil sniper rifle.” He explained it by saying that “90% of the India-Israel arms business goes to Adani after one visit” as a result of the PM’s trip to Israel.
Gandhi made the following statement about the debate around Adani’s coal mining in Australia, Gandhi said: “The Prime Minister goes to Australia and by magic, SBI gives a $1 bn loan to Adani. The Prime Minister goes to Bangladesh, his first trip, decides to sell electricity to Bangladesh and after some days Bangladesh Power Development Board signs a 25-year contract with Adani.”
Referring to the exposure of LIC and public sector banks to the Adani group, Gandhi said the Hindenburg report had spoken about shell companies in Mauritius. He said that given Adani’s sprawling network across strategic sectors, its opacity was an issue of national interest. “Why (has) the government not (raised) questions on these shell companies? Who are these people, whose money is it?”
However, after Rahul Gandhi’s attack on PM Modi in parliament over his connections to billionaire Gautam Adani, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey has demanded action against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, calling the statements “misleading, insulting, and obscene.”
I have moved privilege motion against Rahul Gandhi. As per rules, In Parliament, you can’t put allegations on a person who is not present in the session to defend himself & also have to give notice & seek permission from the speaker: Nishikant Dubey, BJP MP pic.twitter.com/ghDG0hmwll
— ANI (@ANI) February 8, 2023
Taking a Dig at the Congress leader, Dubey asked: “Is Rahul Gandhi a ghost or not? Is Rahul Gandhi alive or dead? referring to a comment by Rahul during the Bharat Jodo Yatra where the Congress leader had said that the “old Rahul Gandhi is dead”.
“Your party’s PM Narasimha Rao, did he stay in Balasaheb Deoras’s house in Nagpur or not?”, Dubey asked, referring to former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Madhukar Dattatraya Deoras, popularly known as Balasaheb Deoras.
Dubey also attacked Congress over Robert Vadra, husband of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. “What is the relationship between Robert Vadra and Sanjay Bhandari?” Dubey asked, referring to the arms dealer.
He also cited the National Herald case that had brought the Gandhi family under the radar of ED and CBI.
At the end of his remarks, Dubey offered a challenge to Rahul: “If you can show that Modi ji traveled even once with Adani after becoming PM, I’ll quit.”
BJP officials like Kiren Rijiju and Mr Dubey responded to Mr Gandhi’s accusations by claiming that the Congress had favored a number of industrial giants, including the Tata, Birla, and Ambani families.
He claimed that the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation had received “money” from the Chinese embassy and government. “Getting the money from whichever source I can… Rahul Gandhi, this has been the way of your family, he said.
Rahul’s remarks were opposed in the House by Prasad, Rijiju, Meghwal, and Dubey, who pressed him for evidence to back his claims that the Prime Minister and the government had changed the laws to benefit the Adani Group.
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