Cornered by Opposition, PM Modi likely to reply to Adani allegations in Lok Sabha

Opposition MPs have attacked the Modi-led government over the Adani issue. PM Narendra Modi is set to reply to the Motion of Thanks Debate in Parliament on Wednesday and is likely to refute the allegations leveled against his government.

PM Narendra Modi is set to reply to the Motion of Thanks Debate in Parliament on Wednesday. (Photo: PTI)

By India Today Web Desk: Cornered by the Opposition from all sides, PM Narendra Modi is set to reply to the Motion of Thanks Debate in Parliament on Wednesday. Opposition MPs, including Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, TMC’s Mahua Moitra and RJD’s Manoj Jha, attacked the Modi-led government over the Adani issue.

PM Modi’s speech is likely to counter all the allegations levelled against his government, including that it bent rules to support the Gautam Adani-led conglomerate.

Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday levelled the charges that the Modi government had bent rules to benefit Adani. He also wanted to know what PM Modi’s ties were with the industrialist.

Watch PM Modi’s speech in Parliament live here:

“From Tamil Nadu, Kerala to Himachal Pradesh, we have been listening one name everywhere ‘Adani’. Across the entire country, it’s just ‘Adani’, ‘Adani’, ‘Adani’…Adani ji never fails in any business he ventures into – solar energy, wind energy. During my yatra people asked me how Adani attained such success in so many sectors, what is his relationship with the Prime Minister,” Rahul Gandhi said.

Earlier On Wednesday, Congress chief and the Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, while speaking in the Rajya Sabha attacked the government on the Adani issue. He also said that every issue was being communalised. He questioned PM Modi’s silence on those who are spreading hatred in the country.

“In 2014, PM Modi said na khaunga na khane dunga. Now I want to ask why is he letting some industrialists ‘eat’. The wealth of one of the closest friends of PM Modi increased by 13 times in 2.5 years. In 2014, it was ₹50,000 crore while in 2019 it became ₹1 lakh crore. I don’t know what magic happened that his assets touched ₹12 lakh crore in just two years,” Kharge said in the Upper House.

Kharge alleged that PM Modi was “always in election mood”. “The Prime Minister should spend more time in the house. Why is the PM so silent?”, asked Kharge.

TMC’s Mahua Moitra had launched a stinging attack on the government in the Lok Sabha over the Adani row on Tuesday, saying “A, the billionaire businessman,” has ‘topi pehnau-ed’ or duped the country.

Participating in the debate on the ‘Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address’, Mahua Moitra said a famous person whose name starts with ‘A’ and ends with ‘I’, who stinks of crony capitalism, has duped everyone.

RJD’s Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha also demanded a probe by a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) into the alleged issues in the Adani Group highlighted by US firm Hindenburg Research.

Jha said: “People are worried but the government is trying to cover up the Adani issue. Gautam Adani is claiming that this is an attack on the nation, but when did he become a national person?” He demanded a JPC probe into the issue as soon as possible.