Tuesday, 15 October 2024
Tuesday, 15 October 2024
The Congress on Monday cited a video of Kenya’s former prime minister Raila Odinga to buttress its allegations against Prime Minister Narendra of crony capitalism favouring the Adani Group.
“This has been the story of India’s foreign policy for last 10 years - By Adani. For Adani. Of Adani,” Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter), attaching a video of Odinga where the Kenyan former PM says Modi introduced him to Gautam Adani and organised a Kenyan delegation's visit to the Adani Group's projects in Gujarat.
“When I was PM of Kenya I was introduced to this company by PM Modi when he was chief minister of Gujarat,” Odinga says in the undated video posted by a journalist, Ravi Nair.
“PM Modi organised for a Kenyan government mission to visit Gujarat and I had the opportunity to visit these company’s infrastructure projects which includes port, power plant, a railway line, and an airstrip developed in a swamp donated by the government of India. I am talking about the Adani group of companies,” Odinga adds.
Jairam Ramesh, MP and general secretary in-charge communications of the Congress, also posted on X: “Today Modani is back in the news. But this time in Kenya, former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who has been accused of supporting the Adani Group, has now admitted that he was introduced a decade ago by the then Chief Minister of Gujarat, who lobbied for the Adani Group. Of course, all this happened when Mr. Modi had declared himself as 'Non Biological Prime Minister'.”
A controversy has been brewing in the past few months due to business deals between the Kenya government and Indian billionaire Gautam Adani.
The Adani Group was previously talking to the Kenyan government to operate its main airport but the proposal has been put on hold following protests. In August, the Kenya Aviation Workers Union said the proposed agreement announced with Adani Airport Holdings would lead to job losses and bring in non-Kenyan workers.
It called on the government to scrap the deal.
Kenya's high court temporarily blocked the proposed deal for the Adani Group to lease the country's main airport for 30 years in exchange for expanding it, according to reports.
Last week, the Adani-led conglomerate signed a pact to build and operate key electricity transmission lines in Kenya for 30 years, per PTI.
The former Kenyan prime minister supported Adani despite the protests in Kenya.
“I support Adani..It’s a successful company with a proven track record,” Odinga says in a video posted by Kenya’s KTN News on Sunday.
The controversy has refused to die down. Kenyan senator Daniel Kitonga Maanzo has accused Gautam Adani of bribing Kenyan politicians and sponsoring campaigns.
“We are aware that a lot of bribes have been exchanged by companies…bribes in billions…these companies have been given direct procurement…it is very well choreographed..Adani, a big Indian company…It was a company sponsoring Raila Odinga’s campaigns..It’s a bigger fraud,” Maanzo said in an interview posted on the Citizen TV Kenya YouTube channel on Monday.
In India, Trinamul MP Mahua Moitra in particular has been outspoken about the Modi-Adani proximity for the past few years.
In March 2023, Rahul Gandhi alleged on the floor of Parliament that Prime Minister Modi helped the Adani Group to bag deals in India, Sri Lanka and Australia.
The Adani Group has been embroiled in controversies in other countries earlier. A report in the Sydney Morning Herald in August 2023 said: “The Indian-headquartered mining giant has been accused of brazen accounting fraud, stock manipulation and money laundering over the course of decades through a web of international companies including involvement by its Australian operations.”
