NEW DELHI: Congress President and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday said that the opposition would raise the Adani issue in Parliament as the government especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi is silent on the issue.
“We will raise Adani issue in Parliament. Government is silent on such a big issue, especially PM Modi,” Kharge said.
Meanwhile, Congress Lok Sabha MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that the opposition has made a strategy for Parliament over the Adani issue.
“We will have a meeting now. The entire opposition will come together; the discussion will be done and a decision will be made. It’s not an issue of Congress only, but that of India’s common people,” he said.
Chowdhury also attacked Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman over her remarks that “opposition is doing hypocrisy over Adani issue.”
“I would like to advise Nirmala Sitharaman that democracy, instead of autocracy, should continue in India. It is not hypocrisy when we put forth our views and make demands. It is democracy. What your government does is an autocracy,” Chowdhury said.
Notably, the opposition parties including Congress, DMK, NCP, BRS, JD(U), SP, CPM, CPI, Kerala Congress (Jose Mani), JMM, RLD, RSP, AAP, IUML, RJD and Shiv Sena have constituted meeting in LoP Mallikarjun Kharge’s chamber in Parliament to chalk out a strategy on Adani-Hindenburg report and other issues.
Earlier, Congress announced that the party will launch protests from the Parliament to the streets on February 6 amid the ongoing Hindenburg-Adani row.
The party has decided to hold countrywide protests in front of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) offices and State Bank of India (SBI) branches.
In Delhi, the demonstration will be held by NSUI-Youth Congress outside the SBI office and LIC office located at Parliament police station.
Congress leaders across the country will protest outside the SBI office and LIC office, in which prominent leaders of the states will participate.
Congress MPs will protest near the Gandhi statue in Parliament House on Monday.
Although the Congress is getting the support of other Opposition parties on the Adani issue, it has to be seen whether the parties such as the Bharat Rashtra Samithi, Aam Aadmi Party and Trinamool Congress, which are seen together in the meetings, will join the Congress demonstration or extend moral support.
However, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Janata Dal (Secular) have kept their distance from Congress on this issue.
It is being argued by the Opposition that the investment of the Adani group in public sector banks such as the SBI and LIC has had a big impact on the savings of the middle class.
Opposition MPs said the government was not allowing the issue to be discussed in Parliament. After the uproar in Parliament, the proceedings of both Houses of Parliament were adjourned till February 6.
A report by a US-based Hindenburg Research surfaced on January 24, claiming that the Adani Group had weak business fundamentals, and was involved in stock manipulation and accounting fraud, among others.
The report triggered a sell-off of shares of all Adani Group companies. (ANI)