The Opposition parties led by Congress hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday for not responding to allegations related to industrialist Gautam Adani, which they termed "the elephant in the room", with former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi accusing Modi of "protecting" the billionaire.
Rahul alleged it was clear that Prime Minister was protecting Gautam Adani as he did not order an inquiry into the allegations levelled against the industrialist by a US-based research firm. He said the Prime Minister did not answer the questions he had posed to him. The party at the same time posed another set of three questions to Modi on the controversy.
While Shiv Sena MP in Rajya Sabha Priyanka Chaturvedi said the PM’s speech clearly says the government has no answers to the questions of serious lapses of checks & balances in the stock market nor to the brazen cronyism in handing over important projects to the group, Shiromani Akali Dal's (SAD) Harsimrat Kaur Badal said "the elephant in the room" was not addressed by the government.
"I am not satisfied, but it reveals the truth. There was no talk of an inquiry. If he is not a friend, then he should have agreed to an inquiry. There was no probe into shell companies in defence sector and benami money is changing hands, but the prime minister did not say anything on that. It is clear that the prime minister is protecting him," Rahul told the media after the PM’s reply to the motion of thanks on the President's address.
The grand old party also criticised the expunging of certain remarks by Rahul Gandhi in Parliament targeting Prime Minister and alleged that "democracy was cremated" in Lok Sabha while participating in a debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address in Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
"He (PM) is surely trying to protect him (Adani) and I understand this and there are reasons for it," he also said. Rahul said this is an issue of national security and concerns the country's infrastructure and the prime minister should have said that there will be a probe into the allegations. This is a very big scam. He did not even say that. He (PM) is surely trying to protect him (Adani) and I understand this and there are reasons for it," he said.
Asked if he got the answers to his questions, the former Congress chief said, "I did not get any reply from the prime minister to my questions." "The prime minister was shell-shocked. He was in shock and there was no answer. I have not asked any complicated question. I only asked how many times he (Adani) has gone with you. How many times did he meet you. I posed simple questions but got no answers," he said.
AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh described the prime minister's reply in Parliament as diversionary and said there was not even a word on his "links" with his favourite "businessmen". "Not a word — direct or indirect — on the prime minister's links with his favourite businessman, Adani, or his ghotalas," Ramesh said on Twitter after the prime minister's speech.
Sharing pictures of Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan in Rajya Sabha and Prime Minister Modi in Lok Sabha, he tweeted, "At 5:15pm today. One of India's most famous actress on the right speaking in Rajya Sabha. India's most famous actor on the left speaking in the Lok Sabha."
Congress also questioned as to why the Prime Minister's Office "ignored" Niti Aayog recommendations against handing over six airports to an "inexperienced" Adani Group, a day after Rahul Gandhi linked the meteoric rise in the wealth of the business conglomerate to the BJP coming to power.
Trinamool Congress's (TMC) leader in the Lok Sabha Sudip Bandyopadhyay said the Prime Minister should clearly make a statement assuring the depositors of the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) and State Bank of India (SBI) that their money is in safe hands. "It is a fact that money has gone to Adani from them (LIC and SBI) and people were waiting for a reply to get an assurance from the Prime Minister but sadly, it did not come," Bandyopadhyay told reporters outside Parliament after Modi's address.