The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday said that the states that allegedly received bribes from the Adani Group as per the US indictment are the ones that were ruled by the Opposition. BJP National Spokesperson Sambit Patra also hit back at Congress MP Rahul Gandhi for trying to tarnish Prime Minister Narendra Modi's image after the LoP alleged that Gautam Adani and PM Modi were together in the alleged corruption and that both of them should be arrested and interrogated.
"Since 2002, Rahul Gandhi, his mother Sonia Gandhi and the Congress have been trying to tarnish Modi's image, but they have not succeeded and the prime minister received the highest civilian award in a foreign country on a day the opposition party was attacking him," news agency PTI quoted Patra as saying.
"None of the four states mentioned in US charges against Adani Group had a BJP CM. Congress and its allies were in power in Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu," Patra said while addressing a press conference on Thursday.
US Department of Justice and the US Securities and Exchange Commission alleged that the Adani Group had paid over USD 250 million as bribe to Indian officials in exchange of favourable terms for solar power contracts between 2021-2023. However, the Adani Group denied the charges, calling them "baseless". It also said that all possible legal recourse will be sought.
The states named in the US indictment are Odisha (then ruled by Naveen Patnaik's BJD), Tamil Nadu (under DMK), Chhattisgarh (under Congress), Andhra Pradesh (ruled by Jagan Reddy's YSR Congress), and Jammu and Kashmir (under Central rule).
"It (Adani Group) invested ₹25k crore and ₹65k crore in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan when Bhupesh Baghel and Ashok Gehlot were at the helm there respectively. The conglomerate invested ₹45k crore in the DMK-ruled Tamil Nadu and had recently given ₹100 crore donation to Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy for a skill development foundation," Patra added.
"If Adani is "corrupt", then why are the Congress governments seeking investment from his company?" the BJP leader asked.
BJP Slams Rahul Gandhi
Sambit Patra slammed Rahul Gandhi following the latter's press conference over the Adani matter, saying that it was the Congress leader's usual tactic to target India and those that defend the nation.
The Puri MP said: "Rahul Gandhi had raked up the Rafale issue in 2019 in a similar fashion. He had claimed that a big revelation would be made. During the Covid pandemic, he used to do press conferences in a similar fashion over vaccine. However, he had to apologise before the Supreme Court later."
Reacting to Gandhi's assertion that the Congress was doing judiciary's work, the BJP MP said that both Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi were out on bail in the National Herald case.
"Rahul Gandhi, in his press conference, said that the Congress party is doing the work of the judiciary too. The mother-son duo is out on bail, and they are doing the work of the judiciary! Half of them are out on bail, and they are doing the work of the judiciary!" Patra further said.
Earlier today, Rahul Gandi held a press conference hours after Adani's indictment, demanding the billionaire industrialist's immediate arrest. He also took pot shots at PM Modi alleging that both the PM and Adani are together and that they are safe in India. He said he would raise the matter in the Winter Parliament beginning Monday as he demanded PM Modi and Adani's arrest, PTI reported.
"I can guarantee that Adani won't be arrested or investigated in India because the Modi government is protecting him," Rahul Gandhi alleged. "India is in the grip of Adani. Adani is controlling India. We will not spare them," he added.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also said that a comprehensive Joint Parliament Committee probe into all aspects of the Adani group's functioning, and investments in foreign countries was required.