Training his guns on the KG Basin deal, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Yogendra Yadav on Wednesday asked why the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi had never questioned the gains to Reliance Industries. He was speaking at a rally to mark the launch of the party’s Lok Sabha campaign in Maharashtra.
“The gas being extracted from the KG basin is a national resource. But Reliance Industries kept hiking the rates at which they would supply it. When then Petroleum Minister Jaipal Reddy questioned the KG Basin deal, he was replaced by Veerappa Moily. Mr. Modi has never spoken about the KG basin scam,” alleged Mr. Yadav.
The AAP had already declared that the deal would be a major poll issue for the party. Reliance Industries has said that it planned to go to court against the charges.
Mr. Yadav also questioned Mr. Modi’s alleged “favours” to the Adani group. “People think of Mr. Modi as a common man. I want to ask him how Adani came up in Gujarat. Land was given to them at Re. 1 per sq.m. When the Indian Air Force demanded land next to the Adani plot, the Gujarat government demanded the market rate,” he alleged.
