Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Nov 21: The move by the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi to attack the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for alleged collusion with the Adani group which has been indicted by the US in the over 250 million dollar (Rs 2,029 crores) bribery scam, has boomeranged on the Congress leader with the BJP quickly reciprocating an accusing finger at the principal opposition party pointing out that most of the states named in the US indictment were then ruled by the Congress or its INDIA allies.
Even though the US allegations have been junked by the conglomerate, the charges have set off a political war of words between the ruling BJP and the opposition. As Congress leader Rahul Gandhi reiterated his allegations of collusion between the Narendra Modi government and the Adani Group, BJP leaders poked holes in the Congress’s stance and said the allegations extend to four states — all of which were ruled by opposition parties at the time.
The Adani Group has rejected as baseless the move by the US Department of Justice to name the group in a case of alleged wrongdoing. The group asserted that these were mere allegations and must be seen only as that. It also said it would explore a legal course of action. “The allegations made by the US Department of Justice and the US Securities and Exchange Commission against directors of Adani Green are baseless and denied,” the Adani Group said in a statement, emphasising it has steadfastly maintained the highest possible standards of governance and transparency.
The BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya said in a long post that the document put out by the US Justice Department mentioned that the charges were allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Mr Malviya said the essence of the charge was that the US and Indian companies agreed to supply 12 GW of power to the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI). “This was subject to SECI entering into PPA with State electricity distribution companies (SDCs). There was a collaboration between Adani Green Energy with a US renewable energy, Azure Power, under which Azure was allotted 4 GW and Adani Green Energy 8 GW. Since the power was costly, the SDCs were not willing to buy. Therefore, the Adanis (in collusion with Azure Power; a US firm) paid the equivalent of US $265 million to SDCs based in Odisha (BJD ruled), Tamil Nadu (DMK), Chhattisgarh (Congress) and Andhra Pradesh (YSRCP) between Jul 21 and Feb 22 (by far the largest to AP).”
“All the States mentioned here were Opposition ruled during that time. So, before you pontificate, answer on the bribes the Congress and its allies accepted,” Mr Malviya said. He also pointed out that an Indian Court can similarly accuse American firms of bribing US government officials to deny access to Indian markets. “Should we then allow law to take its course and the concerned corporate to defend or plant ourselves in domestic politics of a foreign country?” he questioned.
Congress leader and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, addressing the media on the report, alleged that the Adani Group had broken Indian as well as American laws. He has said he would raise the issue during the winter session of Parliament beginning from Monday and stressed that the Opposition was united on the issue.
The BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra hit back accusing the Congress of trying to damage Indian markets through propaganda, and sought to know why its governments in many states had welcomed investments by the Adani group.
Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters, Patra dared the Congress to go to court against the company rather than making accusations through the media. However, he sought to distance the party and the government from the Adani group, saying that so far as the case against the company was concerned, it was for the company and not the BJP to answer the allegations. “Law will take its own course,” he said.
Mr Patra also accused Gandhi of having an “international structure” in US politician Ilhan Omar and businessman George Soros. “Your structure wants to dent Indian markets. The Gandhi family and the Congress are unable to tolerate that we are moving towards being the third-largest economy in the world. That is why they are attacking the Indian market and trying to make it tank to damage the Indian economy. About 2.5 crore small investors who had invested in the share market have had to suffer losses today,” Mr Patra said.
He also questioned that if M Modi was behind Adani, why did Adani group invested Rs 25,000 crore in Chhattisgarh when Bhupesh Baghel of the Congress was the chief minister, Rs 65,000 crore in Rajasthan when Ashok Gehlot was the CM, Rs 35,000 crore in West Bengal under Trinamool Congress, Rs 60,000 crore in Andhra Pradesh, Rs 4,500 crore in Tamil Nadu, and promised Rs 1-lakh crore of investment in Karnataka under a Congress government.
On the demand for a joint parliamentary committee probe (JPC) into the bribery charges against the Adani group, Mr Patra said someone breaks a bottle or breaks a hand in “their JPCs”. He also alleged that Rahul and Congress will now try to disrupt Parliament during the winter session. Responding to Rahul’s claim that Modi’s credibility has ended, Mr Patra said the Congress had been trying to finish Modi’s credibility since 2002, but could never dent it.