Nirmala Sitharaman slams Rahul Gandhi for "baseless allegations" against PM on Adani issue, calls him "repeat offender"

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday came down heavily on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for making baseless allegations against Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Adani issue, and described him as a "repeat offender" in levelling such charges. "If Rahul Gandhi really thinks that Adani has been given all these things (undue favours), it is not true," Sitharaman said responding to questions at a press conference at the State BJP office here.

"Let me also say he's now becoming a repeat offender in terms of putting baseless allegations against the Prime Minister. We saw that prior to the 2019 elections, now he's doing it again. He doesn't seem to learn any lessons from all these false allegations that he wants to level against the Prime Minister," she said.

Sitharaman also 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.

"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 said.

The "entire solar power project" has been given to Adani in (Congress-ruled) Rajasthan. "What stops Rahul Gandhi?"