Several Opposition parties staged a walkout from the ongoing session of the parliament, demanding an investigation by a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) into allegations against billionaire Gautam Adani’s business empire.
MPs of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray faction) and the Bharath Rashtra Samithi staged a walkout from the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
Speaking to The New Indian, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh launched a tirade against the BJP-led Central government.
“We staged a walkout as there is a mega scam in which PM Modi is directly involved as he gave coal, gas, electricity, ports, airports, highways and ₹2.5 lakh crore loan to Adani,” he said.
Singh said, “Lakhs of crores of rupees were invested by making 38 shell companies in other countries. We demand a probe by a joint parliamentary committee.”
Earlier in the day, most of the Opposition parties decided to take part in proceedings in the House. However, the AAP remained adamant about not participating in the proceedings.
The Budget session of the parliament has been witnessing a logjam as Opposition parties demand a JPC inquiry into allegations levelled against US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research.
Public-listed companies of the Adani Group faced the worst-ever offloading following the publication of the Hindenburg Research report on January 24, with stocks of at least five companies hitting lower circuits in several trading sessions.
Adani himself, the third richest man in the world with his assets pegged at USD120 billion at the time of publication of the report, has been down to 17th place in the Forbes real-time billionaires list.
In its report, Hindenburg accused the port-to-energy conglomerate of “pulling the largest scam in corporate history” by way of “stock manipulation” and “accounting fraud”.
The report claimed that Adani amassed USD100 billion of his wealth in the last three years even as the countrymen suffered economic woes caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Shares of the listed Adani Group companies shot up by an average of 819 per cent during that period.
The Adani Group has announced to sue the US firm for its “maliciously mischievous, unresearched” report. “We are evaluating the relevant provisions under US and Indian laws for remedial and punitive action against Hindenburg Research,” the group said on January 26.