Amid US bribery allegations, Rahul Gandhi demands Gautam Adani's arrest

The Adani group denied the charges, saying the allegations were baseless and the conglomerate is compliant with all laws

Rahul Gandhi, leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, on Thursday demanded the immediate arrest and interrogation of billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani after the latter was charged in the United States (US) with bribery and fraud, and said the “indictment” had “vindicated” the position of the Congress, which has repeatedly flagged the issue.

 

Addressing a press conference in the afternoon at the Congress headquarters in New Delhi, hours after US prosecutors accused Adani and associates of paying $265 million as bribe to Indian officials, the Congress leader said it was “now clear and established” that Adani had “broken both American and Indian laws”.

 

 

“I can guarantee that Adani won’t be arrested or investigated in India because the Modi government and the Prime Minister are protecting him,” Gandhi said.

 

The Adani group denied the charges, saying the allegations were baseless and the conglomerate was compliant with all laws.

 

Responding to the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) pointed out that the four states where government officials were allegedly bribed by the Adani group between July 2021 and February 2022 were then ruled by Opposition parties. One was Chhattisgarh, which had a Congress government. It said the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) was ruling Odisha at the time, while Tamil Nadu is still ruled by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), an ally of the Congress, and Andhra Pradesh was then ruled by the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP).

 

Gandhi said he, along with the entire Opposition, would raise the issue during the winter session of Parliament, which begins on Monday.

 

Asked about some states ruled by non-BJP parties being named by the US prosecutors, the Congress leader said: “Wherever this has happened, be it any government, there should be an investigation. But the one involved in corruption should be jailed.”

 

Gandhi said criminality and corruption were two different issues. “But if Adani is working under due process, we don’t have a problem.”

 

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge demanded a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe, as did several other Opposition parties, into all aspects of the Adani group’s functioning, including its investment in foreign countries.

 

The CPI(M) demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation probe since “bribery of public servants comes under the Prevention of Corruption Act, which is under the remit of the CBI”.

 

Taking a jibe at Modi’s “Ek hain to safe hain” slogan, Gandhi said as long as the Prime Minister and Adani were together, “they are safe” in India. He said Securities and Exchange Board of India Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch, Adani’s “protector”, should be removed from her post and a probe should be initiated.

 

“The PM’s credibility has been destroyed. The entire country knows they -- Adani and the PM -- are one. We will expose everyone and the entire network. Buch was the first example,” he said. 

 

“India is in the grip of Adani. Adani is controlling India. We will not spare them,” Gandhi said. “I’m confident we will work slowly and in the end, we will dismantle this structure. This is a political-financial-bureaucracy network as it captures India’s political system (on one hand) with money and on the other hand, they work for profit,” he said.

 

Gandhi said retail and small investors would suffer losses because of this and stressed it was his job as the leader of Opposition to warn them.

 

Responding to the Congress, the BJP’s information-technology department head, Amit Malviya, questioned the timing of the development because it came just before the start of the Parliament session and Donald Trump’s impending presidency. Malviya alleged the Congress “is willing to be a prop in the hands of (investor) George Soros and his cabal”.

 

Malviya said these were allegations and the defendants were presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. An Indian court, the BJP leader said, can similarly on legitimate grounds accuse American firms of bribing US government officials to deny access to Indian markets.

 

“Should we then allow law to take its course and the company concerned to defend or plant ourselves in the domestic politics of a foreign country,” he asked.

 

BJP Spokesperson Sambit Patra said the Adani group invested Rs 25,000 crore and Rs 65,000 crore in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, respectively, when Bhupesh Baghel and Ashok Gehlot were at the helm there, respectively. The conglomerate invested Rs 45,000 crore in DMK-ruled Tamil Nadu and had recently given Rs 100 crore as donation to Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy for a skill-development foundation.

 

If Adani is “corrupt”, then why are the Congress governments seeking investment from his company, Patra asked.

 

The Trinamool Congress demanded a statement from the Prime Minister on the issue.

 

Tamil Nadu Electricity Minister V Senthil Balaji said the state government-run electricity corporation had no commercial relations with Gautam Adani’s company and that the state had an understanding to buy power only from a Central government firm.

 

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Sanjay Singh said the Adani group tried to enter Delhi’s power sector but was stopped by then chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.