Prime Minister Narendra Modi is trying to protect businessman Gautam Adani or else he would have ordered an inquiry into the allegations of fraud by the Adani Group, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said on Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters minutes after the Prime Minister replied to the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address in the Lok Sabha, Mr. Gandhi said none of his questions involving the Adani Group was answered.
“The Prime Minister was shell-shocked. He was in shock and there was no answer. I have not asked any complicated question. I only asked how many times he [Mr. Adani] has gone with you. How many times did he meet you. I posed simple questions but got no answers,” the Congress leader said.
“I am not satisfied, but it reveals the truth. There was no talk of an inquiry. If he is not a friend, then he should have agreed to an inquiry. There was no probe into shell companies in the defence sector and benami money is changing hands, but the Prime Minister did not say anything on that. It is clear that the Prime Minister is protecting him,” Mr. Gandhi added, referring to the Hindenburg report’s allegations that the Adani Group operated offshore shell companies.
AICC general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh in a tweet claimed that the strategy behind prime minister’s “so-called reply” in parliament was to divert, defame, and denigrate”. He said: “Divert Defame Denigrate Deny. The 4 Ds in PM’s own style that Describe his so-called reply in Parliament. Not a word—direct or indirect—on the Prime Minister’s links with his favourite businessman, Adani, or his ghotalas!”
Divert
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) February 8, 2023
Defame
Denigrate
Deny
The 4 Ds in PM's own style that Describe his so-called reply in Parliament.
Not a word—direct or indirect—on the Prime Minister’s links with his favourite businessman, Adani, or his ghotalas!
Earlier, the Congress leader had asked why his words, spoken while participating in the Motion of Thanks discussion on Tuesday, were expunged and removed from the official records of the Lok Sabha.
“Why were my words expunged,” asked Mr. Gandhi in response to questions from reporters, who asked him if he would protest against the decision of the Chair.
Late on Tuesday night, the Lok Sabha secretariat released a draft copy of the transcript of Mr. Gandhi’s speech in which most of the references to Mr. Modi and Mr. Adani were removed from the official records.
On Wednesday, while speaking at the end of the Motion of Thanks discussion, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla referred to some members making unsubstantiated allegations on the floor of the House, without taking Mr. Gandhi’s name directly.
“Yesterday, until late evening, many honourable members participated in the discussion on the Motion of Thanks. Some members spoke on issues that fell outside the subject of the President’s Address and misused the House to make points without any evidence or proof. This is not in keeping with the dignity of the House,” Mr. Birla said.
While the Congress’ Jairam Ramesh tweeted that “With the expunging of Rahul Gandhi’s remarks on PM linked Adani Maha Mega Scam, deMOcracy was cremated in the Lok Sabha”, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi asserted that Mr. Gandhi did not follow the parliamentary practice of giving advance notice if he wanted to make any allegations against an individual.
“The Congress leader has made some remarks yesterday. Those were very objectionable and baseless allegations. Those should be expunged and action should be taken against him,” Mr. Joshi told Mr. Birla as soon as the Lok Sabha met for the day in the morning.
Another BJP MP Nishikant Dubey wrote to the Lok Sabha Speaker demanding action against Mr. Gandhi for “breach of privilege” and “contempt of the House”.
Speaking in the House, senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad mounted a scathing attack on Mr. Gandhi and said, “Those out on bail and are currently facing trial [in National Herald case] are levelling baseless allegations”.
Apart from Mr. Gandhi, parts of Trinamool Congress Mahua Moitra’s speech were also expunged in which she had used a common Hindi idiom to mean deception by using caps.
