 "Deal signed? Why is Shehzada silent on Adani-Ambani, demands Modi")
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday demanded to know why the Congress, and its “shehzada” — his preferred moniker to describe Congress leader Rahul Gandhi — had stopped raising the “Ambani-Adani” issue, which they had been harping on about for five years. Had they “struck a deal,” he wondered.
The Congress responded by claiming the PM’s comments betrayed his nervousness that he was losing the election. Gandhi, the party said, had mentioned (Gautam) Adani 103 times and (Mukesh) Ambani more than 30 times in his speeches since April 3, 2024. It pointed out that even on Tuesday, at a campaign rally in Jharkhand, Gandhi said the media’s attention was focused on Ambani, Adani and Modi, but not the poor.
When contacted by Business Standard, representatives of Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd and the Adani group were not available to comment on the latest war of words between Modi and Gandhi.
After the PM’s comments, made at a rally in Telangana, Gandhi dared Modi to order a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe into whether the two businessmen — Adani and Ambani — had sent his party “money in a tempo”.
The PM’s comments and Gandhi’s reaction on the issue were reminiscent of the political discourse of the 1970s and 80s, when the Opposition accused the ruling Congress of favouring industrial houses like the Tatas and Birlas, and the Congress in turn alleged a “foreign hand” supported the Opposition parties. Of late, the PM, too, has spoken of foreign powers supporting the Opposition parties.
Modi has heeded and responded to Gandhi’s criticism at least twice in the past. In 2015, when the Congress leader accused Modi of running a “suit boot ki sarkar” (a government for the wealthy), the government jettisoned its reforms agenda to shelve the land acquisition Bill and embraced garib kalyan (the welfare of the poor) as the leitmotif of its governance. In 2019, Gandhi’s allegations on the Rafale fighter jet deal —with the “chowkidar chor hai” (the watchman is the thief) jibe — led to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) “main bhi chowkidar” (I am a watchman too) campaign.
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Addressing a public meeting in Vemulawada in Telangana on Wednesday, Modi said: “Since his Rafale issue got grounded, he started chanting about “five industrialists”. Then he started saying Ambani-Adani. But ever since elections have been announced, these people (Congress) have stopped abusing Ambani-Adani.”
Wondering if a “deal” had stopped overnight the abuse of Ambani-Adani, the PM said: “I want to ask from the Telangana soil, let the Shehzada announce, how much has been lifted from Ambani-Adani. Have tempo loads of notes (currency) reached the Congress?”
“Certainly something is fishy. For five years, (they) abused Adani-Ambani and it stopped overnight. It means you have received some tempo loads of “chori ka maal” (loot). You have to answer to the nation,” the Prime Minister said.
In its response, the Congress pointed out that the PM’s comments betrayed his nervousness that he was losing the elections. Party president Mallikarjun Kharge said Modi's chair was “shaking” after three phases of the Lok Sabha polls. That he had started attacking his own “friends” showed the “real trend” of the result, Kharge said.
“The times are changing. Friends are no longer friends…! After the completion of three phases of elections, today the prime minister has started attacking his own friends. It is becoming clear that Modiji's chair is shaking. This is the real trend of the results,” Kharge said in a post in Hindi on X.
In a video message, Gandhi asked whether the PM was speaking from his “personal experience” about money being sent by businessmen. “The country knows who the driver and helper of the BJP's tempo of corruption are,” he said in a post in Hindi on X. “Modi ji, are you a little scared? Normally you talk about Adani and Ambani behind closed doors, but for the first time you have talked about them in public,” Gandhi said, adding: “So you know that they give money in a tempo. Is it your personal experience?”
“Do one thing — send the CBI and ED to them and carry out a thorough investigation. Don't be scared," Gandhi said. He further reiterated his earlier promise that the Congress party would disburse the same amount to the poor, through its welfare schemes, as Modi had given away to the two businessmen.
Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said: “A JPC (joint Parliamentary committee) will be formed as soon as the INDIA alliance comes to power on June 4, 2024, to investigate the “Modani Scam”, which has an estimated price tag of at least Rs 2 trillion.” He said: “the man who collected Rs 8,200 crore of electoral bonds for his party — a scam so egregious that even the Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional — is today levelling allegations on others.”
“If 21 Indian billionaires today have as much wealth as 700 million Indians, it is all thanks to the PM's intentions and his policies. It also goes without saying that “Hamare Do” (our two) are key figures in those 21,” Ramesh claimed.
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi, meanwhile, said the PM knew that people now understood the reality that he had handed over all wealth to big businessmen and he was now clarifying as he was nervous.