Will Rahul Gandhi’s Adani attack on PM Modi work as effective poll plank for 2024 Lok Sabha elections

Vibha Sharma

Chandigarh, November 2     

The answer to the question – whether Rahul Gandhi’s “crony capitalism” charge against Prime Minister Narendra Modi using the billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani connection will work as an effective poll plank for Congress in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections —will only be known after the results.

Before that it will be plain theorisation. However, quoting the fate of Congress’ 2019 campaign built around the “Rafale scam” and “chowkidar chor hai” charge, some observers express doubts.

Sources also claim ‘differences’ on Adani as poll plank in INDIA alliance members as well as a section within Congress.

‘Adani’ as the poll plank

Since the Hindenburg report on Adani group, Gandhi has been working on a connection between PM Modi and Adani to build a case around the charge of “crony capitalism”.

In January, a US-based investment research firm named Hindenburg Research published a report on the Adani Group, revealing the findings of its investigation.

The report ‘Adani Group: How The World’s 3rd Richest Man Is Pulling The Largest Con In Corporate History’ made several allegations, including conglomerate’s involvement “in brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme over the course of decades” Since then, Gandhi has been using it to attack PM Modi.

Earlier this week, after several Opposition leaders claimed that they had received “threat notifications” from Apple on their iPhones warning “potential state-sponsored spyware attack”, Gandhi said they were all being targeted for asking questions to the Modi government over its “patronage to Adani”.

Narrating an old story, Gandhi claimed PM Modi’s soul was in Adani, a reason why the opposition attack had no effect on him. “We have understood that the soul is there in the parrot and now we are attacking the soul,” Gandhi claimed, calling Adani “the most powerful person in the country ranking above PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah”.

Will people connect with the issue?

Whether attacking Adani to attack PM Modi will work, only time will tell but skeptics point to the fate of Congress’ attempts to build around ‘chowkidar chor hai’ and “Rafale scam” ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections to express doubts.

It goes without saying that Congress’ charges failed while BJP emerged electorally stronger.

“Those supporting it claim that unlike Rafale, which was about a deal, Adani has multiple facets apart from the human element (Gautam Adani) which can be used to erode the larger-than-life persona of PM Modi. They also believe that the campaign will turn the rest of the corporate world against Adani and substantiate the claim that BJP was destroying small businesses”, they say.

Broadly a section of the Congress’ leadership thinks they have a “winner” in Adani this time, somewhat like the “Commonwealth Games (CWG) and 2G scams” the BJP-led NDA used to bring down the UPA in 2014.

“The corruption charge in this case will be easier to stick, unlike Rafale, which was difficult to understand,” they add. However, many believe that Adani was not an issue that the people in rural areas will understand or connect with.

BJP had bunch of issues in 2014  

While INDIA alliance members like Mamata Banerjee and Sharad Pawar are said to be against the idea, sources claim not everyone in the Congress is on board in making Adani a poll issue in mind the business interests of states ruled by the party. 

Notably while Sharad Pawar has been making headlines, courtesy his meetings with Adani, TMC’s Mamata Banerjee too seems to be against the idea. 

“Gandhi needs to take a closer look at Congress’ governments in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh and the Adani’ businesses there,” observers say.

Plus BJP had “much more than CWG and 2G corruption issues when it targeted the Congress-led UPA in 2014, the top among them being “Hindutva, Ram Mandir and Jammu and Kashmir”, they add.      

“Adani can be a part but not the entire poll plank and Congress needs issues that connect with people. Its success as an electoral issue will also depend upon the party’ organisation on the ground. Will rural voters connect with it, will corporates opposed to Adani support, are the questions that need to be answered first, they say.