Shri Rahul Gandhi questions surge in Adani’s fortunes under Modi Excerpts of the speech of Shri Rahul Gandhi in Lok Sabha during ‘Motion of Thanks’ to the President’s address on February 7, 2023.

Leading the Opposition attack over the Adani-Hindenburg issue in Lok Sabha, Shri Rahul Gandhi linked Gautam Adani’s dramatic rise to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s coming to power and said “Magic” happened after 2014 that propelled the businessman from the 609th to the second spot on the global rich list.

Participating in the debate on the ‘Motion of Thanks’ to the President’s Address in Lok Sabha as the first Opposition speaker, Shri Rahul Gandhi made a barrage of allegations including that Modi helped Adani bag overseas contracts in various sectors. Congress leader displayed pictures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi - one in which he can be seen with Adani inside a plane and the other in which he is getting down from a plane which has an Adani logo on it - to highlight their alleged proximity. Posing questions for the Prime Minister, Shri Rahul Gandhi asked:

How many times has he travelled together on a foreign trip with Adani? How many times did Adani ji join you later on a visit? How many times Adani ji travelled to a country immediately after you visited the country? How many times has Adani ji bagged a contract in a foreign country after your visit there? How much money Adani has given to the BJP in the last 20 years, including through electoral bonds?

“There should be a case study on Adani by business schools such as Harvard, on how the relationship between business and politics works, India is a case study... PM Narendra Modi should get a gold medal in this,” Shri Rahul Gandhi said in Lok Sabha.

The Congress leader also hit out at PM Modi for slamming the Opposition over its criticism of the Rafale deal by allegedly overlooking the capabilities of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). “Yesterday the Prime Minister said at HAL that we hurled wrong allegations. But in reality, HAL’s contract of 126 aircraft went to Anil Ambani, who then went bankrupt,” former Congress President said.

Shri Rahul Gandhi, during his ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, said that people asked him how Adani got into so many businesses and succeeded, as well as what is the nature of his relationship with the Prime Minister. “From Tamil Nadu, Kerala to Himachal Pradesh, Kashmir, we have been listening one name everywhere - ‘Adani’. People also asked me how Adani’s net worth increased from USD 8 billion to 140 billion between 2014 and 2022. “

Adani-Modi relationship began many years ago when Narendra Modi was Gujarat CM. One man who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with PM Modi, he was loyal to the Prime Minister and helped Mr Modi. He said that Adani was the backbone in setting up a group of businessmen in Gujarat. As a result, tremendous expansion of Adani’s businesses in Gujarat took place.

Shri Rahul Gandhi said that in 2014, he was in 609th spot on the list of richest people and climbed to the second spot. Congress leaders also raised the issue of the report by US-based Hindenburg Research, saying it alleged that Adani has shell companies abroad. Pointing out that Adani works in strategic sectors, he said that the government must find out about these shell companies as to who controls them as this is a national security issue. The Opposition has been demanding a joint parliamentary committee probe or a Supreme Court-monitored investigation into the allegations of fraud and manipulation made by Hindenburg Research against Adani’s companies that triggered an unprecedented stock crash.

Shri Rahul Gandhi alleged that the government piles rules in favour of Adani and said that the clause that no one without any prior experience would be involved in the development of airports was done away with. “This rule was changed by the government and Adani was given six airports. After that India’s most strategic, profitable airport, Mumbai Airport, was taken away from GVK using agencies like the CBI, ED, and was given to Adani by the government of India,” he alleged.

“Adani never made drones while HAL used to do it and other companies do it. PM goes to Israel and Adani gets the contract... They have four defence firms and had not done this work before, small arms, sniper rifles, all are made by Adani,” he said.

He alleged that be it maintenance of aircraft, small arms or drones, the whole India-Israel defence ties have been handed over to Adani. Adani group has a 30 per cent market share in the airports business and also controls 90 per cent of Israel-India defence cooperation, he claimed.

Shri Rahul Gandhi also cited the example of Australia, saying PM Modi visited that country and with “Magic” USD 1 billion was given by the State Bank of India to Adani.

He also listed the examples of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka visits of the Prime Minister to claim that following the trips, Adani got contracts there. In June 2022, the Chairman of Sri Lanka’s Ceylon electricity board informed a parliamentary hearing that President Rajapaksa told him that PM Modi “pressured” him to give the wind power contract to Adani.

Shri Rahul Gandhi said that this is not India’s foreign policy but a policy to enhance Adani’s businesses.

“I was asked by the people during the Yatra as to why LIC’s money is being put in the Adani group. They also asked Adani’s shares, which are volatile, why LIC’s funds are being put in it. -- thousands of crores of funds from public sector banks are given to Adani,” he said.

Shri Rahul Gandhi also questioned the ‘Agniveer’ scheme for recruiting defence personnel claiming that youths aspiring to be in the army were not on the same page as the government on the scheme. Senior officers have said that the scheme will weaken the army and it came from outside the Army, from the RSS and Home ministry.

“They said that the Agniveer scheme came from outside and (National Security Advisor) Ajit Doval had forced it on the forces,” Shri Rahul Gandhi said.

He also pointed out that the main concerns of the people such as unemployment and price rise were not even mentioned in the President’s address.

He concluded his speech by saying, “Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, working together is success, Adani ji and Narendra Modi ji...thank you.”