The Congress on Monday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had conspired to disrupt its plenary in Raipur by unleashing the Enforcement Directorate on its Chhattisgarh leaders because he was frightened by the sustained questioning on the Adani scam.
The party has been asking the Prime Minister three questions every day on the Adani group. The ED on Monday started raiding Congress leaders, including MLAs and cashiers, barely four days before the Congress plenary, the biggest event for a political party, prompting the charge of political vendetta.
While Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel said the conspiracy to disrupt the plenary would not succeed, Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh asserted that the party’s questioning of the government on Adani would continue.
Signalling that the Congress would not be intimidated, Rahul Gandhi released a video telling the nation that Modi had changed rules to help create Adani’s monopoly on airports and that the truth spoken by him in Parliament about this had been removed from records.
“I am against the magic of pushing someone from the 609th position to the second position (on the list of the world’s richest men) and I will continue to speak the truth,” Rahul said. He described it as a story of “Mitr Kaal mein Kabza Raj”.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge asserted that the ED, which Ramesh said was “exterminating democracy”, was selectively targeting Opposition leaders. He tweeted: “Over 95% of the raids conducted by ED in the last nine years are on opposition leaders. Most of them are from Congress. The raid on our leaders in Raipur just before the plenary is a sign of BJP’s cowardice. We are not going to be frightened by such cowardly threats. Modi’s nervousness is on display after the tremendous success of Bharat Jodo Yatra.”
Kharge added: “If Modi has an iota of honesty, he should order raids on the mega scams of his dear friend. We will face this attempt to crush democracy with all our might.”
The Congress’s Chhattisgarh-in-charge, Kumari Selja, said: “There is a crying need to raid the Adani group which has brought infamy upon India in the international community by (its) misdeeds. But Modi is trying to scare the Congress into silence. That’s not going to happen.”
Party spokesperson Pawan Khera said: “Between 2004 and 2014 under the Congress rule, the ED conducted 112 raids. In the last eight years, ED conducted 3,010 raids. Among the politicians targeted, 95 per cent belonged to the Opposition. In the National Herald case, Rahul Gandhi was interrogated for over 50 hours. Sonia Gandhi was grilled for three days. Kharge was interrogated. But many tainted leaders who were facing investigation were spared as soon as they joined the BJP.”
Ramesh said: “I have repeatedly said that Modi’s policy of FDI is — fear, deceit and intimidation. But we are not going to be scared. If anything, these raids have increased our determination, have given us a booster dose to be even more aggressive against the Prime Minister and his third-grade politics of vengeance, vendetta and harassment.”
Persisting with his daily dose of questions under the Hum Adanike Hain Kaun (HAHK) series, Ramesh said: “Following the Hindenburg report, the world’s biggest stock index provider MSCI announced that it would reduce the weightage of Adani Group stocks in its indices in the coming months. The second largest provider, S&P Dow Jones, stated that it would remove Adani Enterprises from its sustainability indices. The third largest, FTSE Russell, announced that it would make changes to the weightage of Adani Group companies in its indices effective 20 March 2023.”
Ramesh added: “Meanwhile the NSE has announced no review of Adani Enterprises’ position despite the dramatic fall in its price and global concerns over the true free float given allegations of money laundering and round tripping. Should the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) not be trying to protect retail investors by at least ensuring that suspect companies’ positions in key indices are reviewed?”
The Cong ress leader lamented that far from reviewing the inclusion of Adani Enterprises in the Nifty 50, the NSE announced on February 17 that four more Adani Group companies would be included in the NSE indices. “Why is the NSE adding insult to injury for the lakhs of investors who have lost money in Adani Group companies? Why is it being allowed to expose more investors to risky Adani stocks? Are you putting any pressure on the NSE to help your friends via the NSE Index Advisory Committee member who also serves on your Economic Advisory Council?” he said.
Pointing out that the Adani Group’s actions are provoking global scepticism about Indian companies’ environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards, Ramesh said: “Reports that Adani Green Energy is providing collateral for loans to Adani’s Australian coal project has prompted Norway’s largest pension fund to divest its holdings in the firm since its green credentials are now under serious question. ESG is a major global investment theme and entire sectors such as electric vehicles, batteries and green fuels are reliant on ESG fund flows. What is holding Sebi back from investigating how Adani’s actions could damage the entire ESG investment theme in India?”
