New Delhi: The Congress on Saturday played down the remarks of NCP leader Sharad Pawar on the Adani-Hindenburg issue and said that the entire opposition was united against the BJP-led Centre. “Pawar is a senior leader and he may have said something but all the opposition parties are together and this has worried the BJP,” Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said.
The Congress has been betting big on the Adani-Hindenburg issue which has been highlighted regularly by senior leader Rahul Gandhi. Though the Congress played down Pawar’s remarks on the Adani issue, Rahul on Saturday stepped up his attack by saying the government was trying to deflect attention from the Adani issue.
“They try to hide the truth. Hence, they mislead people every day. The question is the same, who invested Rs 20,000 crore in the Adani group through shell companies,” Rahul tweeted in Hindi. Taking a cue from Rahul, party spokesperson and social media in charge Supriya Shrinate said the Congress will keep raising the Adani issue as issues of national security and safety of public money were involved in the alleged scam.
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सच्चाई छुपाते हैं, इसलिए रोज़ भटकाते हैं!
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) April 8, 2023 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
सवाल वही है - अडानी की कंपनियों में ₹20,000 करोड़ बेनामी पैसे किसके हैं? pic.twitter.com/AiL1iYPjcx
">सच्चाई छुपाते हैं, इसलिए रोज़ भटकाते हैं!
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) April 8, 2023
सवाल वही है - अडानी की कंपनियों में ₹20,000 करोड़ बेनामी पैसे किसके हैं? pic.twitter.com/AiL1iYPjcxसच्चाई छुपाते हैं, इसलिए रोज़ भटकाते हैं!
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) April 8, 2023
सवाल वही है - अडानी की कंपनियों में ₹20,000 करोड़ बेनामी पैसे किसके हैं? pic.twitter.com/AiL1iYPjcx
Also read: "It seems targeted...no need of JPC": Sharad Pawar on Hindenburg report concerning Adani group
“This is absolutely anti-national. You have a Chinese firm that is involved with various projects of Adani, some of them of strategic value to this country. If this does not threaten national security, then what does,” said Shrinate, who said a firm called PMC, owned by a Chinese national, was involved in several infrastructure projects in India.
“The firm PMC operates from the Shantigram office premises of the Adani group and shares the same email id,” she said. The Congress spokesperson wondered why the BJP and the Centre were coming out in defence of the Adani group. “When we ask questions from the Adani group, why does the BJP or the government come out in his defence. Will the government do corporate communications for the Adani group? Let the private company respond,” said Shrinate.
The Congress leader alleged that Rahul Gandhi was being targeted as he was asking questions of the government over the Adani issue and said that the government had changed SEZ laws earlier to benefit the Adani group. The Congress' official reaction comes a day after Pawar said on Friday during an interview that the report of the US-based short seller Hindenburg Research on the Adani group’s functioning “seemed targeted.”
Also read: TMC, NCPs own positions about Adani won't affect Opposition unity: Sanjay Raut
Since the Hindenburg report was out, the Congress and several other opposition parties have been demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe to investigate the alleged links between the private businessman and PM Modi. The Congress has also protested nationwide over the issue. Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh too said that though “the NCP may have its view but 19 like-minded opposition parties were convinced that the PM-linked Adani group issues is real and very serious.”
Ramesh further said that “all the 20 like-minded opposition parties including the NCP were united and will together save the Constitution and the Indian democracy under BJP’s assaults.” He further said that “the like-minded opposition parties will defeat the BJP’s divisive social and economic agenda.”
