If the Narendra Modi government had nothing to hide, then why was it “running away” from a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the Hindenburg report’s allegations against the Adani group, the Congress asked on Tuesday.
The Congress’ response came after Union Home Minister Amit Shah in an interview to the news agency, ANI, asserted that there was nothing for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to hide or be afraid of in the Hindenburg-Adani issue.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh also told reporters that he had written to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das and Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chief Madhabi Puri Buch for an impartial probe into allegations against the Adani Group.
Mr. Ramesh also asserted that former party chief Rahul Gandhi would not apologise for his remarks in Parliament and would continue to ask questions of the government.
“If they do not have anything to hide, why are they running away from a Joint Parliamentary Committee (probe). They do not even allow us to raise the demand of the JPC in Parliament. When our leaders, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge ji, raised the demand for JPC, their remarks were expunged,” Mr. Ramesh said.
Responding to the Union government’s stance before the Supreme Court that it was ready to set up a panel of experts, Mr. Ramesh said it was important to look at the petition filed in the top court. He said the investigation should be into the Adani Group and its ties with the government instead of casting aspersions on the Hindenburg report.
The Congress communication chief, however, clarified that his party was in favour of encouraging private investments for the long term development of the country. “We have always said we are in favour of entrepreneurship and that is the way forward for economic development. We are against blind privatisation and selling of PSUs,” he said, adding that liberalisation should be on the basis of rules and institutions that function independently to apply those rules in an impartial and transparent manner. “Our fight is against crony capitalism,” Mr. Ramesh asserted.
The Congress leader also posed questions to the Prime Minister as part of the “Hum Adani ke Hain Kaun” series.
Mr. Ramesh claimed that the UPA government had signed an MoU in 2010 for the state-owned National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) to set up a 1,320 MW thermal power plant in Bagerhat, Bangladesh. However, he alleged, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s June 2015 visit to Dhaka, it was announced that Adani Power and Reliance Power would construct thermal power plants to supply electricity to Bangladesh.
“Is it true that you put pressure on your counterpart PM Sheikh Hasina to accept terms that were extremely favourable to Adani Power and unfavourable to Bangladesh?” Mr. Ramesh asked.
Further, in February 2018, Adani Power had applied to set up the Godda power plant as a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) to avail of tax benefits. However, the Ministry of Commerce had denied the request because it conflicted with guidelines that prohibited the establishment of a standalone power plant inside an SEZ. “Yet on January 9, 2019, the Ministry of Commerce changed its view and amended those guidelines,” Mr. Ramesh said.
