The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday reacted strongly to comments made by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ties to industrialist Gautam Adani amid bribery charges leveled by US authorities. Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, called for Adani’s arrest and demanded the formation of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to investigate the issue.
At a press conference, Gandhi said, “The PM is 100% protecting this man (Adani), and this man fully supports the BJP. We will raise this issue in Parliament.” He reiterated the Congress party’s demand for a JPC to probe the matter further.
BJP Defends Modi, Targets Congress
In response, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra asserted that “law will take its own course” but criticized Gandhi’s repeated attempts to tarnish the Prime Minister’s image. Patra said, “Since 2002, Rahul Gandhi, his mother Sonia Gandhi, and the Congress have been trying to tarnish Modi’s image, but they have not succeeded.” He highlighted that the Prime Minister had received the highest civilian award in a foreign country on the same day the opposition attacked him.
Questioning Congress’s Investment from Adani Group
Patra further questioned the Congress party’s stance on the Adani Group, citing the conglomerate’s substantial investments in states ruled by Congress and its allies. He pointed out that Adani Group invested ₹25,000 crore and ₹65,000 crore in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, respectively, under Congress-led governments. He also noted a ₹45,000 crore investment in Tamil Nadu, ruled by the DMK, and a ₹100 crore donation made to Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao’s skill development foundation. Patra asked, “If Adani is ‘corrupt,’ why are Congress governments seeking investment from his company?”
Patra continued his critique by invoking the 2019 Rafale deal controversy, which Gandhi had raised previously. He accused Gandhi of repeating baseless allegations and claimed that Gandhi had not introduced anything new in his press conference. “I remember that Rahul Gandhi had appeared with the Rafale issue in 2019 in a similar fashion. He had claimed that a big revelation would be made, but had to apologize to the Supreme Court later,” Patra said.
Patra also took aim at Gandhi’s legal approach, stating, “I want to ask Rahul Gandhi… you file a case, go to the court. The Congress party is doing the work of the judiciary too, while the mother-son duo is out on bail!”
The controversy stems from an indictment issued by the US Department of Justice, which accuses Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani, and senior Adani Green executives of bribing Indian state government officials to secure solar power contracts. The indictment also includes allegations of raising money for these projects in the US by falsely claiming compliance with anti-bribery laws.
In response, the Adani Group denied the charges, calling them “baseless” in a statement. The company emphasized that the allegations made by US authorities were unsubstantiated and rejected the claims outright.
