Amid the raging row over the Hindenburg allegations, the Congress on Tuesday (August 13, 2024) announced that it will hold a nationwide agitation on August 22 demanding SEBI Chief Madhabi Puri Buch's resignation and a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the Adani issue.
The announcement was made after Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge held a meeting with all general secretaries, State unit chiefs and AICC State in-charges in New Delhi as the party gets battle-ready for the upcoming round of Assembly polls to discuss organisational matters and various issues of national importance for election preparedness.
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi urged his colleagues to focus on “exposing corruption” in the Narendra Modi government, protecting the Constitution and putting pressure on the government for a nationwide caste census.
Following the meeting, the Conngess, in a resolution, alleged that the “Prime Minister [Narendra Modi] is fully involved in the Adani megascam and the financial market regulator has now been found to severely compromised.”
"The shocking revelations of a nexus between the SEBI and Adani needs a thorough investigation. The money of small investors in the stock market cannot be jeopardised," Mr. Kharge said in a post on X after the meeting.
The Modi government must immediately seek the resignation of the SEBI chairperson and constitute a JPC in this regard, he said.
Briefing reporters on the meeting, Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal said it was unanimously decided at the meeting that the party will hold a nationwide agitation on August 22, demanding the SEBI chief's resignation and a JPC probe into Adani issue.
“We will gherao the Enforcement Directorate (ED) offices. Thousands of Congress workers will gherao the ED offices in each State capital on August 22 to demand two issues: one, SEBI chairperson should be removed and there should be a JPC,” he said.
The meeting also discussed the turmoil in Bangladesh and urged the Government of India “to take all steps to ensure that the targeted attacks on religious minorities and their places of worship in Bangladesh stop”.
The party reiterated its demand for a caste census and had a detailed discussion on public programmes it should design to pressure the government. However, sources said, there was no detailed discussion on the Supreme Court order that allowed States to sub-categorise Scheduled Caste (SCs) and Scheduled Tribe (STs) groups. Senior leader Mukul Wasnik was the only one who spoke against any further division of SC/ST groups.
Mr. Venugopal reiterated the party’s opposition to the Supreme Court observation on “creamy layer” in the press briefing but stressed that the party will have more consultations on the issue of sub-categorisation. “We are going to have a discussion with PCCs and other stakeholders and then the party will take a stand,” he said.
Ahead of the crucial Assembly elections in Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand, the tone and tenor for the meeting was set by Mr. Gandhi with 3Cs - corruption, Constitution and caste census.
On alleged corruption with regard to the Adani issue, the party decided to tell it in a simple way so that common people understood. While Jairam Ramesh has been tasked to prepare a formulation, sources said Sachin Pilot suggested that they should come up with a figure with regard to the Adani issue to explain the “quantum of loss” to the public.
“The shocking revelations of nexus between SEBI and Adani need a thorough investigation. The money of small investors in the stock market can’t be jeopardised,” Mr. Kharge said in a post on X.
The Congress chief also mentioned unemployment, inflation, the recent spurt in train accidents, Agnipath scheme and the fight to make MSP a legal guarantee for farmers as other key campaign points.
(With PTI inputs)
