Adani ‘magic’ started in 2014: Rahul Gandhi links group’s rise to PM Modi in LS
The Hindu
Congress MP asked PM to explain his relationship with Gautam Adani, whose wealth grew from $8 billion to $140 billion between 2014 and 2022
Alleging that government policies are “tailor-made” to favour the Adani group, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to explain his “relationship” with business tycoon Gautam Adani.
Participating in the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address in the Lok Sabha as the first speaker from the Opposition benches, Mr. Gandhi asserted that “magic” had happened after Mr. Modi became Prime Minister in 2014, with Mr. Adani seeing a meteoric rise from the 609th position in the global billionaire’s list to becoming the world’s second richest person.
Also read: Rahul Gandhi questions surge in Adani’s fortunes under Modi govt
In a sharp response, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju asked the Congress leader not to make “wild allegations” without providing proof or giving authenticated evidence.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla also urged the former Congress chief not to display two photographs, one that showed Mr. Modi with Mr. Adani inside a plane, and another showing Mr. Modi getting down from a plane that sported the Adani logo.
Mr. Gandhi mounted a scathing attack on Mr. Modi for allegedly favouring the Adani group and asked how much money the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) received from the ports-to-power conglomerate through electoral bonds over the past 20 years.
Citing examples of the Adani group signing business deals with countries such as Israel, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka among others, the Congress leader alleged that “India’s foreign policy is Adani foreign policy”.