Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday described billionaire tycoon Gautam Adani as "Vitamin A" of the BJP, saying the government should not discriminate between industrialists.
"Industry and industrialists should progress, but there should not be any discrimination against anyone. It cannot be the case that one industrialist grows and the other does not. The government should have the same vision for everyone," Yadav said.
"There should be no discrimination between industrialists, but the BJP is only helping Adani," the SP president told reporters in response to a query.
Terming Adani "Vitamin A of BJP", Yadav said both "the excess and loss of Vitamin A has its disadvantages".
"Having discriminatory attitudes results in banks sinking with the fall of one industry. The LIC will drown. Who will bring back the money from the bank and the LIC? There should be no discrimination between industrialists, but the BJP is only helping one industrialist," the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister alleged.
The Adani Group stocks have taken a beating on the bourses after US-based short seller Hindenburg Research made a litany of allegations, including fraudulent transactions and share-price manipulation, against the business conglomerate. The Adani Group has dismissed the charges as lies, saying it complies with all laws and disclosure requirements.
The opposition parties have alleged that the meltdown in Adani Group shares is a "mega scam" that involves common people's money as public sector LIC and SBI have invested in them and have questioned the government on steps taken by it.
Referring to the Hindenburg report, Yadav said, "Under the BJP government, which claims that the economy is strong, a report comes and Industrialist Adani slides down to 20th position from second spot."
To a question, he said the SP is a party that believes in God. "We believe in Lord Vishnu and all his incarnations. We follow religious scriptures and faith," he said in an apparent reference to the ongoing row over his party leader Swami Prasad Maurya's comment on portions of the Ramcharitmanas.
The SP chief alleged that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is putting forward both his deputies to shield him wherever he (CM) does not want to answer the questions.
"The battle of 2024 (Lok Sabha election) is the biggest. This is a fight to save democracy and the Constitution," he added.