The Congress on Friday held 23 media conferences across the country to spread the message that Prime Minister Narendra Modi facilitated Gautam Adani’s businesses in India and abroad and is now blocking an investigation into serious allegations of wrongdoing against the Adani group in gross violation of the principle of accountability.

Insisting that Adani became the world’s second-richest person in 2022 from the 609th in 2014 on the strength of the twin pillars of Modi’s friendship and stock price manipulation, Congress leaders explained to the people how his group established monopolies in almost every sector — from airports to ports, power to cement, data storage to apples.

They alleged that the RSS-BJP is now undermining Parliament, threatening the judiciary and suppressing the media to bail “Modi’s friend” out of this crisis.

The Congress, however, dissociated itself from the views expressed by American businessman George Soros who said the Modi government would have to answer questions on allegations of fraud and stock manipulation against Adani’s companies.

Soros, who is a known critic of Modi and has supported liberal regimes in several countries, also said this crisis would “significantly weaken Modi’s stranglehold on government” and trigger a democratic revival in India. As his views left the Modi government seething with rage, the Congress sought to send out a firm message that the people of India and the Opposition parties were capable enough to enforce accountability on their own.

Party communications chief Jairam Ramesh said: “Whether the PM-linked Adani scam sparks a democratic revival in India depends entirely on the Congress, Opposition parties and our electoral process. It has nothing to do with George Soros. Our Nehruvian legacy ensures people like Soros cannot determine our electoral outcomes.”

Aware that the RSS-BJP is raising the bogey of a foreign conspiracy to derail the Indian economy as a shield for Adani, the Congress took care to highlight that it is all about protecting Indian investors, Indian banks and pressuring Indian agencies and institutions to strengthen surveillance against violations and manipulations.

They said it was Modi who used India’s foreign policy and pressurised foreign governments to enrich the Adani group.

While most party leaders addressing the media in different cities highlighted how all references to Adani were expunged from parliamentary records and the Modi government was not accepting the legitimate demand for a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into the matter, Ramesh persisted with his questions under the HAHK (Hum Adani Ke Hain Kaun) series.

Focussing on the Indian Oil Corporation’s (IOC) controversial agreement to use the LPG facilities in the Adaniowned Gangavaram Port, Ramesh said: “It is now widely known that you (Modi) have used all the means at your disposal to help Adani expand its ports business, whether by giving port concessions in the absence of bidding or by inflicting income tax raids on business groups to encourage them to sell their valuable assets to Adani. But why are you intentionally undermining the public sector that your government is meant to be stewarding on behalf of the citizens of India?”

He said: “Your government had previously blocked a 2021 bid by the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust for the Dighi Port in Maharashtra, which ended up in Adani’s hands. Now we learn that the IOC, which was earlier importing LPG via the government-run Visakhapatnam Port, is instead being made to use the neighbouring Gangavaram Port, and that too via an unfavourable ‘take-or-pay’ contract. Do you view India’s public sector simply as a tool to enrich your cronies?”

Pointing out that the IOC has clarified that it has only signed a “non-binding MoU” with Adani Ports and that there is no binding take-or-pay agreement “as of now”, Ramesh asked: “Did Adani Ports inadvertently reveal the game before it was finalised? Does the signing of an MoU not clearly indicate the direction in which IOC is being pushed? Does the fact that a take-or-pay contract was at all on the table not betray the fact that Adani was going to be made the primary port for the import of LPG rather than one of many, as IOC has stated?”

Ramesh said the LIC was a major shareholder in the IOC with an 8.3 per cent stake worth Rs 9,400 crore, and also a major shareholder in Adani Ports and SEZ with a stake of 9.1 per cent worth Rs 1,130 crore.

“Where is the due diligence by government shareholders? Who is looking out for the interests of the shareholders of IOC? Or is this loot being carried out under your benevolent gaze and restraining hand?” he asked.