Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday asked the Narendra Modi government why it was not investigating the alleged flow of funds into the Adani Group from shell companies abroad, asserting in Parliament that this was a national security question because the conglomerate led by Gautam Adani now dominates India’s ports and airports and plays a critical role in the country’s defence production.

“The Hindenburg report came a few days ago. It said Adani has shell companies abroad. These shell companies are investing thousands of crores in India. Whose money is this? Who owns these companies? Adani works in strategic businesses; he dominates India’s ports, airports, and plays a critical role in defence production. My question is — why has the Indian government not raised questions about these shell companies?” Rahul asked during the debate on the motion of thanks to the President’s address.

Amid chants of JPC-JPC (joint parliamentary committee to probe the scam) from the Opposition benches, the Congress leader asked: “Who are these people; whose companies are investing in firms dealing with strategic sectors? The government of India doesn’t even know about these companies. This is an issue of national security; how come you don’t know about it? How much money is coming in, whose money? It is the duty of the government to find out who owns these shell companies.”

Prime Minister Modi has yet to speak on the January 24 report of the US-based investment firm Hindenburg Research, accusing the Adani group of accounting fraud and improper use of offshore tax havens, that has halved the group’s market wealth and prompted it to abandon a Rs 20,000-crore share sale.

The Adani group denies the allegations made in the report.

In the Lok Sabha, Rahul traced the Adani group’s spectacular rise since 2014, when Modi became Prime Minister. The one name that came up everywhere in conversations with people from Kanyakumari to Kashmir during the Bharat Jodo Yatra was that of Adani, he said. People wanted to know the secret of the tycoon’s success in every sector that he entered.

“Adani is now into airports, ports, data centres, cement, solar energy, wind energy, aerospace and defence, consumer finance, renewables, media, apples… people asked me how his net worth jumped from $8 billion to $140 billion?” Rahul said. “In 2014, he was ranked 609 in the list of the world’s richest men. Then magic happened, and in 2023, he became the second richest.”

Rahul said he would give a couple of examples of how this happened. Taking up the question of handing airports to private players for development, he said: “There was a rule that anybody who does not have experience in aviation will not get the contract. This rule was changed and Adani was given six airports.”

Amid protests by ministers, Rahul continued: “Adani today controls 24 per cent air traffic and 31 per cent air freight. India’s Prime Minister facilitated this.”

“In defence, Adani had zero experience,” he said. “Adani now makes drones with Israeli firm Elbit. Modi goes to Israel and Adani gets the contract. Small arms, sniper rifles are all made by Adani. The Indo-Israel defence relationship goes into Adani’s hands. An important company, Alpha Design, is handed over to Adani.

“The Prime Minister goes to Australia and the SBI offers a loan of $1 billion to Adani.

“In Bangladesh, Modi strikes a deal to sell electricity. Bangladesh after a few days signs a contract with Adani for 25 years.”

“In Sri Lanka, the “chairman of the Ceylon Electricity Board informed a parliamentary committee there that he was told by President Rajapaksa that Modi had asked him to give a wind power project to Adani,” Rahul said.

“This is the foreign policy. This is not India’s foreign policy. This is a policy to build Adani’s business,” he added.

Business schools like Harvard should use this as a case study on how to use government power to build individual businesses, he said.

Rahul also referred to thousands of crores being invested in the Adani group by public sector banks. “The SBI — Rs 27,000 crore, PNB — Rs 7,000 crore, Bank of Baroda — Rs 5,500 crore… the list goes on. The LIC’s exposure is Rs 36,000 crore.”

About the Union budget, he said: “Adani announced in 2022 that he plans to invest $50 billion to build the world’s largest green hydrogen ecosystem. And finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announces in the budget the government will give an incentive of Rs 19,700 crore for green hydrogen ecosystem. Which means, we will give it to Adaniji. The budget promises for Adaniji are 50 new airports, coastal shipping, horticulture grain storage….”

“People ask me what is his relationship with Modi? This is the relationship,” the Congress leader said, showing photographs of Modi with Adani on an aircraft. Speaker Om Birla asked Rahul not to show posters.

“I thought let me explain to the nation what is Modi’s relationship with Adani,” Rahul continued. “The relationship began many years ago when Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat. And when most of India’s businessmen were asking questions and were against Modi, Adani stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Modi. That’s commendable, he was loyal.”

The Congress leader said: “He helped Modi construct the idea of resurgent Gujarat. He was the backbone of the group of businessmen brought together in the name of Vibrant Gujarat. The result of this was tremendous growth of his business in Gujarat. The real magic starts when Modi comes to Delhi in 2014.”

Realising that the government would not allow a separate debate on the Adani row in Parliament, the former Congress president kept the focus during the debate on the President’s address on this single issue despite nervous protests by BJP members and repeated jibes by the Speaker. The Speaker argued that using the debate on the President’s address to stress just one point wasn’t fair, but allowed Rahul to complete his speech overruling the BJP’s persistent objections.

Arguing that what started with Gujarat became a national affair in 2014 and is now an international affair, Rahul said: “Tomorrow, the Prime Minister will reply. I have simple questions: How many times did you travel together with Adani on a foreign tour? How many times did Adani join you later on your visit? How many times did Adani travel to a country immediately after you did? And in how many of these countries did Adani get contracts after your visits?”

He continued: “Another important question: How much money Adani has given to the BJP in the last 20 years? How much donations were given through electoral bonds?”

He concluded by saying: “In a beautiful way, the BJP MP who spoke earlier summed it up for me — ‘coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress and working together is success’. Adani ji and Modi ji, thank you.”