Attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his alleged relations with Gautam Adani, the Congress said they would now bow down to any pressure and settle for nothing less than an independent probe into the matter.
Addressing a press conference at the Uttar Pradesh Congress Headquarters in Mall Avenue (Lucknow), Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh Bhupesh Baghel said that in January, Hindenburg released a report after which the shares of the country’s richest and world's second richest person nosedived. “How Rs 20,000 crore came into Adani's account? Neither the leader of Bharatiya Janata Party nor the prime minister is saying anything on this. The report is being an attack on India to divert the issue,†Baghel said.
The Chhattisgarh chief minister claimed that there was a long list of dictators in the world — from Hitler to Mussolini and Saddam Hussain, and from Gaddafi to King Jong — and all were familiar with the way those people worked.
“The dictators are afraid that people may stop fearing them. They want to silence their opponents and crush them. They can go to any length to remove the opponents from the way,†he said.
“Today, the BJP government is trying to suppress the voice of democracy in the same way and constitutional institutions are being misused. We have seen that they are going to any length to suppress their opponents. We are celebrating Amrit Mahotsav and Amrit Kaal of democracy but at the same time, the process of strangulation of democracy and disqualification, suppression, intimidation without answering the questions raised by the opposition is ongoing in the country,†he alleged.
“India is a democratic country and our forefathers have made great sacrifices, fought long battles for freedom and to protect democracy. We are not going to sit silently if there is a threat to democracy. Why is the BJP feeling the pain if we are demanding a probe into the Adani issue. Rahul Gandhi had asked questions through the media on Adani’s alleged relations with the PM and now, I have come to Lucknow with the same questions. They have to answer where Rs 20,000 came from. Whose shell companies were those? When the shares of the companies fell by 60 per cent, on whose orders SBI and LIC money was being spent on Adani’s companies. These are big questions and we want answers from the BJP government,†Baghel said.
In response to a question, Baghel said there is no need to save Rahul. “Today, Rahul Gandhi has become the voice of farmers, labourers, poor, youth and women. They have travelled for about five months in India only to bridge inflation, unemployment and the gap in the society. The question is not of Rahulji but of the country? Today, Rahulji's voice has become the voice of the country,†he added.
The Chhattisgarh CM further said that Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Mehul Choksi, etc do not belong to the backward castes but the BJP was trying to divert the issue. “The mindset of the BJP regarding the backwards is well known. If the BJP is well-wisher of the backwards, why hasn’t the caste census been conducted till now? Why have the urban body elections not been conducted in UP as yet? All this exercise is aimed at taking political advantage and diverting the attention of the public from the issue of Adani,†he alleged.
