NEW DELHI: The Congress on Tuesday claimed that it was the only party to have consistently taken on the government on the controversy surrounding businessman Gautam Adani.
“There is a corporate group that is facing charges of stock manipulation and the government looks the other way. We will keep questioning you PM Narendra Modi because this is about the people, LIC, SBI and stakeholders who are losing money in markets every day because you (PM) chose to look the other way and protect Adani,” Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said.
The spokesperson said the party was willing to work with like-minded parties to “keep the Constitution safe”.
Addressing a press conference, Shrinate said the Congress was the only party to hold a “free, fair and robust” election to choose its party president, adding that no other party, including the BJP, ever achieved such a feat.
Shrinate said since 2019, it had taken a series of steps not just to strengthen the party but to herald a new era of politics in the country.
“Apart from the Congress, there is no other party and we can proudly say that 9,000 elected delegates chose our president Mallikarjun Kharge. It also empowered the Dalit community,” she said.
Even as the Adani group is trying to distance itself from Vinod Adani, fresh revelations point to Vinod’s role in the group, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said on Tuesday. “A letter dated March 18, 2020, from the Adani Group to the Registrar of Companies in Ahmedabad said Vinod S Adani, promoter of the company, had informed of change (sic) in significant beneficial interest…,” Ramesh said, adding the letter was signed by Adani Enterprises company secretary and joint president (legal) Jatin Jalundhwala and showed Vinod as a key player in the Group.
“Will this hard evidence finally lead India’s all-powerful agencies to probe allegations of round tripping and money laundering by Vinod’s offshore companies? Or will you continue to protect your close friend and accept his laughable fig leaf of a defence,” Ramesh asked Prime Minister Modi.