'Why is public's PF money being invested in Adani companies,' Rahul Gandhi asks Centre

Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, who was disqualified as Lok Sabha MP over the 'Modi surname' case, on Monday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking why the public's retirement money is being invested in Adani companies even after various allegations were levelled against the firm.

Taking to Twitter, Gandhi said, "LIC's capital, to Adani! SBI's capital, to Adani! EPFO's capital too, to Adani! Why is public's retirement money being invested in Adani's companies even after 'Modani' exposed?"

"Mr Prime Minister, no investigation, no answer! Why so much of fear," he asked in a tweet in Hindi.

A major political controversy has erupted after Adani Group stocks took a beating on the bourses after US-based short seller Hindenburg Research made a litany of allegations, including fraudulent transactions and share-price manipulation.

The Gautam Adani-led group has dismissed the charges as lies, saying it complies with all laws and disclosure requirements.

Meanwhile, according to a recent report, the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has continued to invest in two Adani stocks despite the rout following the entire Hindenburg saga. EPFO continues to invest in Adani Ports and Adani Enterprises, and will keep doing so till September at least, unless the organisation reworks its investment approach in this week’s meeting, The Hindu reported.

After the Adani group lost over $100 billion in valuation post scathing allegations by US-based Hindenburg Research, state-run LIC was criticised for having over $4 billion exposure to companies from the group, as per Reuters. According to a report by Bloomberg, State Bank of India has given loans of as much as Rs 21,000 crore ($2.6 billion) to Adani Group firms.

Gandhi, on the other hand, has been attacking the Prime Minister on the Adani issue and has been demanding an investigation into the matter.

He has alleged that his disqualification from the Lok Sabha recently was due to him raising questions on the Adani issue, but asserted that he will continue to do so even if he is disqualified from Parliament for life.

The former Congress chief was disqualified from the Lok Sabha on Friday after he was convicted and sentenced to a two-year jail term in a defamation case by a Surat court.

Also Read: EPFO continues to invest in Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports despite market rout; may continue till Sept

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