Mumbai: On the first day of the two-day meeting of the Opposition alliance INDIA in Mumbai, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to offer a clarification on allegations of round-tripping of funds against the Adani Group.
Rahul’s fresh attack on the Adani Group came as the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), an international network of investigative journalists, released a report with details suggesting that individuals “closely associated” with the Adani family indulged in stock price manipulation amounting to violation of India’s rules.
The report mentioned two investors — Nasser Ali Shaban Ahli from the UAE and Chang Chung-Ling from Taiwan — and their “longtime business ties to the (Adani) family”. The duo, the report said, has served as directors and shareholders in Adani Group companies and companies associated with group chairperson Gautam Adani’s elder brother Vinod Adani.
The allegations were rejected by the Adani Group.
Addressing a press conference Thursday, Gandhi targeted the Adani Group over the OCCRP report and raised questions about Vinod Adani and the two foreign nationals.
He also demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the matter and raised doubts about the “clean chit” given to Adani by SEBI — the market regulator is investigating allegations made against the Adani Group by short-seller Hindenburg Research earlier this year.
“There is something clearly wrong in this. Why is the Prime Minister not forcing an investigation into this?” he asked.
Differences between allies?
When the Congress had earlier demanded a JPC probe against Adani, its alliance partner Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and its chief Sharad Pawar had dismissed it and expressed support for Adani on the Hindenburg report.
The bonhomie between Pawar and Adani is not new and goes back a decade.
Rahul Gandhi once again raising questions on Adani and demanding a JPC probe could put the NCP’s Sharad Pawar faction in an uncomfortable situation.
However, when asked, Gandhi said there were no differences between the INDIA allies, and this was a serious matter concerning the country.
ThePrint reached the NCP’s Jayant Patil for a comment but calls to his number remained unanswered
The 28-party Opposition alliance INDIA is meeting in Mumbai Thursday and Friday — the grouping’s third meeting.
(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)
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