NEW DELHI: The Congress, on Tuesday, announced a countrywide protest to be held on August 22 in support of its demand for the resignation of Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch in the wake of Hindenburg Research report against her and for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe the controversy.
In each state capital, Congress workers will ‘gherao’ (encircle) the Enforcement Directorate (ED) office demanding Sebi chairperson be removed.
The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge in the presence of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, with the party’s general secretaries, in-charges and Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) presidents at the party headquarters here.
Last week, the US-based short seller, Hindenburg Research, alleged that “Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch had stakes in obscure offshore entities used in the Adani money siphoning scandal”. The allegations are backed by documentation leaked by a whistleblower. The couple dismissed the charges.
In a post on X after the meeting, Congress chief Mallikarjun wrote, “We convened a meeting of AICC general secretaries, in-charges and Pradesh Congress Committee presidents to discuss organisational matters and various issues of national importance for election preparedness.”
Referring to the Hindenburg Research report, he said, “The shocking revelations of nexus between Sebi and Adani needs a thorough investigation. The money of small investors in the stock market cannot be jeopardised. The Modi government must immediately seek the resignation of Sebi chairperson and constitute a JPC in this regard.”
Stating that the issues of “unbridled” unemployment and uncontrolled inflation and depletion of household savings are the focus of his party, the Congress chief said, “The poor and middle class have been betrayed. The attack on the Constitution continues unabated. Caste census is the demand of the people. The Congress will continue its fight in demanding legal guarantee of Minimum Support Price (MSP) for our farmers.”
“The Agnipath scheme imposed on our patriotic youth must be scrapped. Train derailments have become a norm, as crores of passengers suffer. Climate-related disasters and collapsing infrastructure are also cause for concern. We will design a national campaign around these issues and go to the people,” Kharge, who is also Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, wrote.
Congress general secretary in-charge of organisation KC Venugopal, while briefing the media later, alleged, “Today, we discussed about one of the biggest scams happening in the country nowadays i.e Hindenburg revelations, the scam related to Adani and Sebi. We unanimously decided to have a nationwide agitation demanding two things. One is a JPC inquiry on Adani mega scam in which the Prime Minister is fully involved and in which the financial market regulation has now been found to have been severely compromised.” Meanwhile, the Congress also called upon the Centre to take all possible steps to ensure that “targeted attacks on religious minorities and their places of worship in Bangladesh are stopped”, and ensure that they are enabled to lead a life of “security, dignity and harmony”. A resolution to this effect was passed in the meeting.