Rahul Gandhi attacks 'crony capitalism', BJP hits back with 'Congress graft'

NEW DELHI: After days of paralysis, Parliament witnessed sharp exchanges over the Adani-Hindenburg issue on Tuesday with the opposition accusing the Modi government of having links with the port-to-power conglomerate, drawing a sharp riposte from the treasury benches which dismissed them as “wild” allegations.

READ ALSO: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi rakes up Adani issue in Parliament; BJP hits back

Leading the attack in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi linked Gautam Adani’s meteoric rise to PM Narendra Modi assuming charge in 2014, saying it pitchforked the businessman from 609th to second spot on the global rich list.

Law minister Kiren Rijiju asked Rahul to furnish proof of his “wild allegations” while BJP MP Nishikant Dubey said Congress itself had favoured several industrial houses like Tatas, Birlas and Ambanis, while also citing the Bofors scam.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday alleged that the BJP-led government has deployed country’s foreign policy, defence policy, domestic policy and Union Budget in the service of the Adani Group, as he tore into PM Narendra Modi for the business group’s quick domination of key strategic and infrastructure sectors in the country post-2014.

Rahul said the charge that Gautam Adani has shell companies overseas through which money is flowing into the country is a question of “national security” as he works in the strategic sectors of ports, airports and defence.

READ ALSO: Adani issue: GVK refutes Rahul Gandhi’s claim on pressure to sell Mumbai airport

Opening the opposition’s charge in the discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s joint address in Lok Sabha, Rahul said “a magic” happened after Modi became the PM as Adani zoomed from 609th position to 2nd slot in the world’s richest list. He said questions about Adani, especially the nature of his relationship with Modi, dominated the curiosity of common citizens whom he heard across the states during the four months of his Bharat Jodo Yatra.

READ ALSO: Congress too has Adani ties, favoured some corporates: BJP

“The relationship is that — first Modi used to fly in Adani’s plane and now Adani travels in Modi’s plane,” he said, as he triggered the treasury benches by flashing the famous photographs of the PM travelling with Adani in his jet.

To stress the point, Rahul said the PM should answer just these questions: “How many times did you travel together with Adani? How many times did Adani join you later on a visit? How many times did Adani travel to a country immediately after you did? And in how many of these countries did Adani (later on) get a contract?” Rahul said the PM should also detail how much money has Adani given to BJP in past 20 years.

READ ALSO: Hum Adani ke Hain Kaun: Congress targets PM Modi over Hindenburg report, minister hits back

Sporting his yatra look of overgrown beard and white shirt, the Gandhi scion presented a new confidence. He was unrelenting in his offensive, saying that top global business schools should do a case study on “How to use government power to build an individual business”.

READ ALSO: PM Modi trying to protect Adani & I understand why: Rahul Gandhi

Rahul dwelt upon how Adani has post-2014 come to dominate 8-10 sectors — ports, airports, defence and arms, cement, apples, infrastructure, power, renewables — without any experience in the key ones. He said the use of foreign policy to help Adani was such that after PM’s visit to Israel, he got contracts for manufacturing of small arms, snipers, and is now making drones for defence forces, in which he has no experience.