Patna: RJD president Lalu Prasad on Friday came out strongly in support of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's demand for "immediate arrest" of leading industrialist Gautam Adani. The former chief minister of Bihar was responding to queries from journalists here about Rahul Gandhi's statement on the previous day, in the backdrop of charges of bribery and fraud against the Adani group in the US.
"Rahul Gandhi is right. Adani should be arrested," said Prasad, who is an old ally of the Congress and a staunch opponent of the BJP, to which Adani is said to be close. The RJD president, who incidentally has been convicted in several fodder scam cases and is on bail, was also asked about prospects of the INDIA bloc, of which his party is a part in Jharkhand, where the counting of votes for assembly polls is scheduled on Saturday.
The ailing septuagenarian replied, "I would like to remain focused on my statement that Adani must be arrested. I am not worried much about a new government (in Jharkhand) where we are already in power." Jharkhand witnessed a straight battle between the INDIA bloc and the BJP-led NDA, which included the JD(U) headed by Nitish Kumar, Prasad's arch-rival and the current Chief Minister of Bihar.
Meanwhile, Bihar Congress president Akhilesh Prasad Singh announced that the party's state unit will take out a protest march on Saturday "against unethical practices of the Adani group which have brought the country into disrepute". The Rajya Sabha MP also vowed to "aggressively" raise the issue in the upcoming session of the Parliament and demanded "a comprehensive Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC)" to look into allegations against the business house.
"We cannot allow the country's reputation to be tarnished.... the uncovering of the scandal has caused bond prices of the Adani group to crash. It is the hard-earned money of the common people," the former Union minister fumed.
When asked why states ruled by the Congress kept awarding contracts to the Adani group if the party had a problem with the business house, Singh shot back: "They have been able to bid for tenders because, so far, they have not been blacklisted. But the litany of allegations against them are proof that the need has arisen for some drastic action."
When pointed out that the BJP, which rules the Centre, has sought to distance itself from the controversy, the Congress leader brandished a picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Gautam Adani and said, "No two persons have been photographed together so many times.....Show me one instance of any leader of our party posing as a part of the vicious nexus."
