Want debate, not disruption over Adani row: TMC strikes discordant note

New Delhi, February 5

Even as the Congress on Sunday stepped up attack against the Centre over allegations against the Adani Group, questioning the government’s silence, the TMC broke ranks with the larger Opposition led by the Congress, saying it wanted a debate, not disruption.

“Great chance to skewer the Modi government when both Houses debate President’s Address. If any Opposition party disrupts, they are in cahoots with the BJP. We (TMC) want debate, not disruption,” Derek O’Brien, leader of the TMC in the Rajya Sabha, tweeted.

The main business on the agenda tomorrow is Motion of Thanks on President’s Address which was to be moved a day after the Budget on February 2. But owing to the protests by the Opposition, demanding a discussion on the Hindenburg report by suspending listed business, it could not be done. Upping the ante, Congress chief whip in the Rajya Sabha and AICC general Secretary Jairam Ramesh said he would daily pose three questions to the PM regarding the Adani Group. He pointed out that Vinod Adani, the brother of Gautam Adani, had been named in the Panama Papers and the Pandora Papers and accused of stock manipulation and accounting fraud through “a vast labyrinth” of offshore shell entities. “What does the fact that a business entity you are well-acquainted with faces serious allegations tell us about the quality and sincerity of your investigations,” he asked.

The Congress is slated to hold protests outside SBI and LIC offices across the country on Monday to highlight how the government had “forced” these public sector institutions to invest in the Adani group.

The Opposition parties on Monday will gather at the Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge’s chamber in Parliament before the sittings begin. The TMC attended first such meeting on Thursday but skipped a meeting of Opposition MPs the following day.