NEW DELHI: Countering the opposition onslaught against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP in the backdrop of Hindenburg report against the Adani group, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said for “us nothing is there to hide or fear”.
In a widely televised interview conducted by a news agency, the Home Minister said, “The Supreme Court has taken cognisance of the issue. As a member of the Union cabinet, it is not right for me to comment. But in this, there is nothing for the BJP to hide or be afraid of.”
It is noteworthy here that Hindenburg’s report against the Adani group has become a big political issue with the Congress and other opposition parties making allegations of favouritism and crony capitalism against the government. They are alleging that PM Modi is helping “his friend Adani” and during the Budget Session of Parliament they raised the demand for a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe.
They have raised questions over the investment of LIC and some public sector banks in the Adani group. The government has rejected the allegations. Also, the insurance public sector giant and other regulatory bodies issued statements claiming that they had followed norms and acted in accordance with their mandates.
The Centre on Monday had informed the Supreme Court that SEBI had agreed to constitute a committee to protect investors’ interests following Hindenburg’s report.
Asked about Rahul Gandhi’s recent speech in Lok Sabha, which was entirely devoted to the Adani group, Shah said it is for “the Congress leader or his script writers” to decide what speech he wanted to give.
Reacting to Rahul Gandhi’s “crony capitalism” allegation against the BJP, Shah said, “There is no question. Nobody has been able to level such allegations against the BJP till date. During their (Congress) era, agencies be it CAG or CBI, they had registered cases taking cognisance of corruption, which ran into over Rs 12 lakh crore.”
When asked about the allegations that the BJP had “captured all institutions”, Shah said they should go to the court, which is not under the influence of the government and the ruling party. “Court ‘humare kabze mein nahin hai’,” he noted.
“Why don’t they go to court? Even at the time when the Pegasus issue was raised, I had said ‘go with proof to the court’…They only know how to create noise. People approached the court and it took cognisance of Pegasus and also delivered its judgement. The investigation was also done,” he said.