Questioning the allocation of contracts for airports to the Adani group, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday alleged that the billionaire industrialist benefited from the central government's "magic" and asserted that he was not against businesses but the creation of monopolies. In a five-minute video titled 'Mitr-kaal' released on his social media accounts, Gandhi said his remarks in Parliament on the "truth" about the businessman were expunged and removed from the records.
"The magic of the 'fakir' - took the airport out of his bag and handed it over in Adani's hands," Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi."I talked the truth about the relationship between Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Adani and how India's wealth was being 'looted'. But all my remarks and the truth were removed from the records of Parliament ... my remarks were expunged," he alleged in the video.
"This story is about the 'kabza-raaj' (control) during 'Mitr-kaal'. Control over airports, control over ports, roads and defence forces, control over the media, coal and energy and overall over the government of India...," he said, claiming that the media did not speak on this and the prime minister did not reply to the questions posed by him."Speaking the truth and facing it is our country's history," he said.
Rahul Gandhi and his Congress party have been attacking the prime minister and the government over the growth of the Adani group during the BJP rule and have claimed that this is happening due to the businessman's proximity to the party and its leadership. The BJP had slammed the allegations as "reckless and baseless" and reminded the opposition party that there were big scams when the Congress-led UPA was in power that tarnished the image of the country.
Even as he targeted the Adani group, Rahul Gandhi on Monday said he was not against businesses and claimed he was "pro-business"."But I am against the creation of monopolies and I am against 'jadu' (magic). What 'jadu'? From 609 to 2 (richest individuals) and the 'jadu' of 4 to 14 (sectors) and the magic of zero to six (airports). It is said that everyone does not get everything one desires, but that is not applicable to the prime minister's 'friend'," he said.
A person who has never run an airport and does not even understand the business, and the most profitable airports were handed over to him, Gandhi alleged."My question is why one person was handed over six airports as the rule was not to give more than two airports to one person." Another question is that when the Airports Authority of India, Union Finance Ministry and Niti Aayog all objected to this decision and termed it as wrong, then who overturned these objections and why. "The contract was for 30 years, then why was it changed to 50 years? Why was the revenue model changed ?" he asked, posing a set of questions.
"The last 'jadu' was the Mumbai airport, the golden sparrow of India's airports. There was pressure from the agencies - the CBI and ED - on the Mumbai airport operator. The moment the Mumbai operator handed over the airport to Adani, the agencies give him a clean chit," he alleged, claiming that he raised all these issues in Parliament.
