Chaos in Parliament after Congress’s Mallikarjun Kharge attacks government over Adani-Hindenburg issue

Leader of Opposition in the Parliament and Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday attacked the Central government over its links to the Adani Group of companies and said that PM Modi’s closest friends’ wealth has increased 13 times in 2.5 years. This led to huge chaos in Rajya Sabha.   

"In 2014, PM Modi said na khaunga na khane dunga. Now I want to ask why is he letting some industrialists to 'eat'. The wealth of one of the closest friends of PM Modi increased by 13 times in 2.5 years. In 2014, it was Rs 50,000 crore while in 2019 it became Rs 1 lakh crore. I don't know what magic happened that his assets touched Rs 12 lakh crore in just two years," Congress MP Kharge said amid protests from the BJP legislators. 

Rajya Sabha on Wednesday suspended both the ‘Zero Hour’ and the ‘Question Hour’ to begin debate on ‘Motion of Thanks on the President’s address’. 

It is to be noted that the Opposition has been demanding a joint parliamentary committee inquiry into the allegations levelled by Hindenburg Research on the Adani group. 

The Opposition parties said that the recent drastic fall in Adani Group shares is a 'mega scam' that involves common people's money as public sector LIC and SBI have invested in them and have questioned the government on steps taken by it. 

On Wednesday, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge added: "If I speak the truth, is it anti-national? I'm not anti-national. I'm more patriotic than anyone here. I'm a 'bhoomi-putra'...You're looting the country& telling me that I'm anti-national." 

If the Prime Minister is not scared of anything, why should he be scared of a joint parliamentary probe on the Adani-Hindenburg row, Kharge said.

Objecting to Kharge’s charges and blame game, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said: “They (the Opposition) are subtly and overtly, repeatedly insinuating against the Prime Minister,” she said. 

Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs Piyush Goyal protested Mallikarjun Kharge's statement and said what Kharge alleged cannot be substantiated. "He is talking of a purported wealth that does not have any merit. That is a share market calculation. The government has no role in that," Goyal said. "I urge him to learn from the former finance minister what is this valuation," Goyal added. 

On Tueaday, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on PM Modi and held him responsible for the meteoric rise of Gautam Adani, the chairman of Adani Group. 

He alleged that Adani's rise was due to Prime Minister Modi as several rules were changed to benefit his business conglomerate. He further said there was a rule that anyone who did not have prior experience in airports can't be involved in the development of airports. "This rule was changed by the Government of India," Gandhi said.