Adani issue paralyses Parliament for third day, govt engages Oppn

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 6

The Adani-Hindenburg issue rocked Parliament for the third straight day with both Houses being adjourned without transacting any business amid Congress-led Opposition’s demand to discuss the matter suspending every other listed agenda and the government noting that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had already clarified the matter.

FM has already addressed the issue: Pralhad Joshi

PM will do everything to stall debate on Adani: Rahul

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi attacked the Congress for constant disruptions and accused it of “not being able to digest that India was being globally acknowledged as a bright spot in the world economy”.

Fresh PIL for probing Hindenburg report

A fresh PIL in the SC has sought a direction to the Centre to set up a panel monitored by a retired judge to probe the Hindenburg Research report which levelled allegations against the Adani Group.

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Global shares slide

• Global shares slipped after strong US jobs data fanned fears of more hike in interest rate

Stanchart setback

• StanChart refused to take Adani dollar bonds against loan; Quant exited its position in Adani stocks

Congress posers

• How did LIC make such a heavy allocation to the risky Adani Group that even private fund managers had steered clear of?
• Did anyone in the PMO, Finance Ministry or LIC raise any concerns about questionable investments?
• As LIC’s Adani investments are eroding the confidence of its 34 lakh retail shareholders, what steps will you take to ease their concerns?

From the Congress, Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi led the offensive, saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi “would do his best to stall a discussion on Adani even though a debate should be allowed for truth to be revealed.”

Later in the day, the government, through Joshi and his deputy Arjun Ram Meghwal, reached out to Congress’ Adhir Ranjan Choudhury, TMC’s Sudeep Bandopadhyay, DMK’s TR Baalu and some other Opposition leaders to break the logjam.

Though a section of Congress leaders said the House may start working on Tuesday and may take up the listed discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address to the joint sitting of Parliament, BRS and AAP sources told The Tribune they would not relent until the Adani issue was discussed. “We will discuss the issue in the morning tomorrow,” BRS and AAP leaders said. Congress chief whip in Rajya Sabha Jairam Ramesh, meanwhile, posed three fresh queries on the issue with no signs of a thaw between the government and the Opposition. While Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge reiterated a joint Opposition demand for a joint parliamentary committee or an independent SC-led probe into the issue, minister Joshi said, “The Congress prefers petty politics. They are least interested in pro-people legislation. They detest the historic productivity of Parliament under the Modi government.”

With Rahul Gandhi reviving his “Hum do hamare do” attack on the PM, the Parliamentary Affairs Minister added that in the past nine years, the Congress has disrespected all parliamentary traditions. “Their leaders prefer holidays abroad instead of attending Parliament. They have even insulted the President when most of their top leadership preferred to stay away from her address to both Houses,” said the minister. The government’s position is that the matter at hand involves one company and has no bearing on India’s broader economic credentials.

The FM has already said our economic landscape is robust, official sources said even as the Congress vowed to keep pressing for a debate with elections due in nine states this year and the Opposition sensing a real opportunity to take on the PM.

Cracks in Opposition unity however appeared today with the Trinamool Congress (TMC) breaking ranks to suggest that Parliament should be allowed to run and the government should be cornered during the discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President.

The TMC even skipped the morning joint meeting of the Opposition where 16 parties, including the Congress, decided to keep seeking adjournment of all proceedings to talk about LIC and SBI’s investments in Adani stocks which, according to the Hindenburg report, were overvalued, a charge Adani has rejected.

The meeting hosted by Kharge was attended by the Congress, DMK, NCP, BRS, JDU, SP, CPM, CPI, Kerala Congress (Jose Mani), JMM, RLD, RSP, AAP, IUML, RJD and Uddhay Thackeray Sena. The TMC, which skipped the strategy meeting, later attended an Opposition protest meeting on the issue at the Gandhi statue.