New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has exposed in Parliament his relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his industrialist friend Gautam Adani. Without the government’s cooperation, a businessman cannot become the second richest person in the world in a short period of time. The country needs to know what the Prime Minister’s relationship is with him – said Rahul.
Rahul Gandhi then raised three questions in Parliament:
1 How many times did Prime Minister Narendra Modi travel abroad with Gautam Adani? How many times did Adani come after? How many times has Adani followed Modi to the country he visited? How many contracts did Adani win from each country after Modi’s visit?
2 How much money has Adani given to BJP as electoral bonds etc. in last 20 years?
3 How does an entrepreneur manage to go all out without losing a venture?
Important issues pointed out by Rahul
* Adanibandham started when Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat. Adani loyally stood behind Modi who announced the Gujarat revival programme. Later Adani saw huge industrial growth. The real magic happened when Modi became the Prime Minister in 2014. Adani, which was at the 609th position in the list of global industrialists, jumped to the second position in eight years. In a short period between 2014 and 2022, Adani’s assets have multiplied from $8 billion to $14,000 crore.
* Government policies and regulations were rewritten for Adani to achieve growth and profitability. The rule that airport management will not be awarded to companies other than those with expertise has been modified for Adani. Adani, which cannot claim any experience in this field, owns many profitable airports today. The Mumbai airport hijacking was done by misusing central investigation agencies. The current situation is that Adani gets 31 percent revenue from air fares.
* Adani was nobody in the field of defence. No skills either. However, Adani has beaten the public sector firm Hindustan Aeronautics to manufacture drones for the army. After Modi went to Israel once, Adani got 30 percent of the market share of the airports there.
* India’s relationship with foreign countries is being misused for Adani’s growth. This is against our foreign policy. India-Bangladesh Power Supply Agreement is with Adani. There has been an allegation from Sri Lanka that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pressured Adani to give the wind power project.
* Public Sector Undertakings help Adani by remittances. After Modi went to Australia with Adani, State Bank of India gave a loan of 1 billion dollars to Adani. Thousands of crores of investors invest in LIC Adani companies. Bank of Baroda and many other banks provide free loans to Adani companies. Adani is the main beneficiary of the new budget proposals in the name of green hydrogen and others.
* Even after the Hindenburg report, the transfer of money to Adani companies through shell companies is not investigated. The government does not investigate whose money is flowing into Adani companies from Mauritius and elsewhere. Investigating agencies like Enforcement Directorate and CBI are not investigating how money is coming from outside to Adani companies, including in strategic areas of national security, and whose money it is.