Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Sunday he will file a defamation case against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi after over his Adani tweet yesterday. This comes after Gandhi linked Sarma to the ongoing Adani row in a tweet on Saturday. Gandhi had posted a list of leaders who were turncoats including Himanta Biswa Sarma, to spell Adani. In response to this, Sarma said it was their decency to not raise questions about the Bofors scam and the National Herald scam.
Rahul Gandhi had once again hit out at the BJP will allegations against the Adani Group and said that Congress leaders' decision to switch to the BJP was just a distraction. “They hide the truth, that's why they mislead everyday!” Gandhi said in a tweet.
He shared an image of his Twitter timeline yesterday which showed names of five Congress turncoats. The list had Sarma’s name too in it. Gandhi tweeted, “The question remains the same - who has ₹20,000 crore benami money in Adani's companies?”
In response to this, the Assam chief minister, who joined the BJP in 2015, tweeted to Rahul Gandhi saying, "It was our decency to have never asked you, on where have you concealed the proceeds of crime from the Bofors and National Herald Scams."
“And how you allowed Ottavio Quattrocchi to escape the clutches of Indian justice multiple times . Any way we will meet in the Court of Law (sic),” he added.
The Congress leader stated that he would continue to inquire about the PM's relationship with (Gautam) Adani and who invested 20,000 crore in Adani Group through shell companies following Rahul Gandhi's disqualification as a Lok Sabha member as a result of his conviction in a criminal defamation case.
“Please understand I am disqualified because the PM is scared of my next speech on Adani. They do not want my speech. There is a deep relationship between Adani and Modi,” Gandhi said at a press briefing last month.
Many opposition parties, led by the Congress, protested throughout the second half of Parliament's budget session, seeking a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) investigation into the Adani problem.
Hindenburg Research has levelled several claims against the Adani Group, including fraudulent transactions and share price manipulation. The Gautam Adani-led group has denied the allegations, claiming that it complies with all regulations and transparency obligations.