Adani row: Congress to hold nationwide protests outside LIC, SBI offices today

Amid the ongoing Adani-Hindenburg row, the Congress has called for nationwide protests outside State Bank of India (SBI) branches and Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) offices on Monday.

In Delhi, the protests will be held by NSUI-Youth Congress outside the banks located at Parliament police station, while party MPs will protest near the Gandhi statue inside Parliament, reported news agency ANI.

According to the report, big leaders of states are also expected to participate in the protests to be done today.

This comes after the Opposition parties demanded a discussion and an investigation into allegations of fraud and stock manipulation levelled by the US-based short seller Hindenburg Research against the Adani Group that led to a massive rout in the latter's stocks.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the opposition parties want day-to-day reporting of the Joint Parliament Committee (JPC) or a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the issue which concerns public money.

As per the Opposition, the recent meltdown in Adani Group shares is a "scam" that involves common people's money as public sector LIC and SBI have invested in them.

On Sunday, the Opposition parties stepped up their attack on the Modi government over the Adani issue, with the Congress alleging that its "silence smacks of collusion".

Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh said his party will pose three questions a day to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the issue.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had earlier said both State Bank of India and Life Insurance Corporation have issued detailed statements with respect to their exposure to the embattled Adani Group and have said their exposure is well within permissible limits.

"Our regulators are very stringent about governance practices and have kept our markets in prime condition. The Indian banking system is at a comfortable level," she said.

Hindenburg's report has led to a stock rout in Adani Group's seven listed companies, which have lost more than $100 billion combined, or about half of their market value.

(With agency inputs)

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