The Adani controversy caught the attention of Indian lawmakers, with the Upper House getting adjourned for a third day and the Lower House engaged in thanksgiving to the president’s address on the budget session.
Rahul Gandhi, who had just come back from his “Bharat Jodo” yatra, was at his most articulate and tore the government apart over the Adani issue. He didn’t stumble or forget like he usually does. He talked about how Gautam Adani rose from being the 609th richest person in the world to the 2nd richest person in the world under Modi’s rule, when the group was given everything from seaports to airports.
The question is not as to how much Adani, a private group, could grow in size and strength, but the way they had grown, which was mysterious and questionable. The political patronage seems apparent, despite denials from the government.
As expected, BJP spokespersons quickly emerged with a list of UPA-era scams to use against Rahul and the Congress party. This is unlike the election rhetoric of the BJP and Modi, who promised to usher in an era of clean governance and end the scam legacy of the Congress rule, which now seems like a whimper.
There were many other accusations, involving other parties like the Trinamool or the DMK. Not one scam was pursued to its logical conclusion. Scams have become a trump card for putting pressure on the opposition through investigative agencies. The fear of the opposition is waning as the government also seems to be in hot water in cases pertaining to Adani or Ambani and the out-of-line favours done to them.
The BJP must not respond to or retort to Rahul’s accusations merely by reminding the Congress of the UPA scams. The expectation of Indian voters in re-electing Modi and the BJP was based on only one merit: a clean image, which seems challenged now. The body language of the BJP parliamentarians over the Adani charges seems to be one of embarrassment and concern. A capital of roughly $115 billion has been wiped out, while some news outlets are crying hoarse that Adani stock prices have stabilised and are rising on the bourse. A section of the media is criminally inclined to extract more funds from gullible investors for Adani.
The role of the Trinamool Congress, which has remained silent on Adani, is also odd. This party is usually the first to jump in and grab every opportunity to embarrass Delhi and the BJP government. It seems the state government is scared at the prospects of another project, the Tajpur port, sinking even before it lays the foundation stone: the award to build the port has gone in favour of Adani.
Can a single research paper, “Hindenburg,” sink and wipe out a third of Adani’s fortunes? I guess not! The retort and the response from the industrial group were weak and delayed by a week. If Adani has now pre-paid his loan of $1 billion, it is pertinent to know his sources of funding. The route of funding through a web of shell firms from Mauritius, etc., is merely roundtripping, which is not unknown to those in the game. Much of it could be political money, earned dubiously by his patrons and coming back as investments. The country has the right to know: whose money is it?
Labeling every critic as anti-national will not help the party’s ostensibly clean image, nor will accusing the Congress party of numerous scams be an appropriate response to Adani’s serious charges.
Sampath Kumar
Intrépide Voix
