New Delhi: On Saturday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in his first press conference after being disqualified as an elected Lok Sabha member representing the Wayanad constituency questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s relation with business tycoon Gautam Adani and the latters alleged involvement in shell companies and the Rs 20,000 crore invested in them.
Gandhi stated that he had shown proof of Adani's shell companies in the House, and questioned the relationship between Adani and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He provided a picture of Modi relaxing with Adani and the State Bank Chairman in Australia as evidence of their alleged closeness.
“Why no one is questioning about the 20000 crore that is invested in Adani’s company. He is in infrastructure business and he doesn’t have the money. So from where did the money come from? There is a Chinese national involved in it. Why no one is asking questions?” Rahul said.
“My speech was expunged and I wrote a letter to the Speaker with a detailed explanation of my position, which included point-by-point rebuttals of the accusations against him. I have not invented the allegations and they were backed by research that was already available in the media in form of articles,” Gandhi said.
According to Gandhi, ministers were lying in Parliament, and he asked the Speaker to allow him to reply when his name was mentioned and he was being accused of wrongdoing. “It is a rule of the parliament that if some accusations are raised against a member, he should be allowed to speak. I wrote to the Speaker and went to his room but he told him that he could not do so. My question is simple: disqualify him or put him in jail, but he would not be intimidated,” Rahul said.
Gandhi expressed concern about the attack on democracy and cited examples of it happening every day. He questioned whose money had been invested in Adani's shell companies and stated that Adani did not have the money, so it must belong to someone else. He also mentioned a Chinese national's involvement in the matter, which he said was not being questioned by anyone.
Gandhi's speech was expunged, and he wrote to the Speaker to explain his position. He also raised questions about the rules being changed to give the airport to Adani and accused ministers of lying about him, claiming that he had sought help from foreign powers. He questioned the relationship between Modi and Adani and where the Rs 20,000 crore had come from.
“I am fighting for democracy in the country and I am not scared of anyone” he said. Senior Congress leaders flanked him during the interaction, and the party has planned to move the court against the conviction of a lower court, which handed out the maximum term of two years, holding Gandhi guilty of criminal defamation.
The Congress has been staging protests across the country, calling the action a knee-capping reaction of the ruling BJP government, which could not face Gandhi over the Adani imbroglio, which the opposition was trying to stick on to the saffron party.
