Nirmala Sitharaman slams Rahul Gandhi over ‘undue favours’ given to Adani by Cong govts
2 min read . Updated: 06 Apr 2023, 04:18 PM IST
PremiumSitharaman sought to know why Gandhi did not raise a voice against the ‘undue favour’ to Adani by the Kerala government and a solar power project to the company in Rajasthan.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman lashed out at the Congress on Thursday, wondering why ousted Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi had not flagged ‘undue favour’ given to Adani by the Kerala government.
“If any crony capitalism is happening, it is happening in Congress-led governments, and Rahul Gandhi will not speak a word about it," the Finance Minister asserted.
Dubbing Gandhi a “repeat offender" she also came down heavily on the Congress leader for making ‘baseless allegations’ against Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Adani issue.
"It was the (then) Congress government (in Kerala), which gave on a platter Vizhinjam Port to Adani. It was not given on the basis of any tender. Now this is not this (Congress) government but the CPM government. But what stopped him from asking and demanding that Kerala cancel that order?" Sitharaman asked.
In Rajasthan, she added, the "entire solar power project" has been given to Adani. “What stops Rahul Gandhi from cancelling that?" Sitharaman asked.
“In 2013 when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was abroad, Rahul Gandhi called one ordinance nonsense and threw it in the dustbin. Much like that…what stops Rahul Gandhi from cancelling that order in Rajasthan?" she added.
The Congress meanwhile continued its protest against the Narendra Modi-led government over the Adani-Hindenburg row. Several Opposition MPs marched from Parliament to Vijay Chowk on Thursday with the tricolour in hand, accusing the Modi government of getting the second half of the budget session washed out.
Members of 19 parties held a press conference, resolving to strengthen Opposition unity as they doubled down on calls for a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into the Adani issue. This included the Trinamool Congress, Bharat Rashtra Samithi, the Aam Aadmi Party and the Samajwadi Party - parties that have so far been reluctant to share the stage or join hands with the Congress.
(With inputs from agencies)