TOI News Desk
NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday countered Congress leader Rahul Gandhi‘s attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi after US prosecutors charged industrialist Gautam Adani with bribery and fraud. In the counter-attack, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also name-dropped George Soros to target the Congress leader.
BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya slammed Gandhi for speaking the same language as George Soros and accused the Congress leader of launching an assault on India Inc on behalf of the investor.
Taking to X, Malviya said, “Isn’t it a coincidence that Rahul Gandhi and George Soros (Feb 16, 2023) are speaking the same language? It can’t be a mere coincidence that the Hindenburg report emerged just when Adani was raising 20,000 crore through a FPO in Feb 2023.”
Malviya also posted an old video of George Soros in which he was accusing PM Modi and Adani of being “close allies” with intertwined fate.
“Modi and business tycoon Adani are close allies. Their fate is intertwined. Adani Enterprises tried to raise funds in the stock market, but failed. Adani is accused of stock manipulation and his stock collapsed like a house of cards. Modi is silent on the subject, but he will have to answer questions from foreign investors and in parliament,” Soros said in the video.
Using the video, Malviya further questioned the timing of the US Justice Department’s observation amid Donald Trump’s impending presidency and Adani planning a US $600 million denominated bond offering.
“And it can’t be a coincidence again that the US Justice Department’s observation comes, amidst US President-elect Donald Trump’s charge of the outgoing regime stacking/misusing the Department of Justice, and Adani planning a US $600 million denominated bond offering?” Malviya said.
“In both the instances, Congress and Rahul Gandhi led the charge, like subservient slaves of George Soros. What is Rahul Gandhi’s interest in launching an assault on India Inc on behalf of a geriatric investor?” he added.
Earlier, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra also came down heavily on Gandhi and said that it is his tactic to attack India and structures that defend the country as he did in the Rafale issue.
While addressing a presser, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra said that the Congress leader mentioned that they are doing the work of judiciary while talking about the charges against Adani and added, “Where the mother-son duo (Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi) is out on bail they are doing the work of judiciary! Half of them are out on bail and they are doing the work of judiciary!”
The remarks came after Gandhi addressed the US prosecutors’ allegations that Adani and associates paid $250 million in bribes to Indian officials. He said that the businessman had violated both Indian and American laws.
Taking a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s poll rhetoric of ‘ek hain, safe hain,’ the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha said that PM Modi lacked the “ability to arrest Adani” as the whole “BJP structure was funded by Adani.”
Meanwhile, the Adani Group has rejected the charges made by US prosecutors.
“The allegations made by the US Department of Justice and the US Securities and Exchange Commission against directors of Adani Green are baseless and denied,” the conglomerate said in a statement, adding that “all possible legal recourse will be sought,” the statement read.
The indictment accuses Adani and multiple subordinates of paying huge sums of more than $250 million in bribes to government officials for lucrative solar energy supply contracts.
The deals were projected to generate more than $2 billion in profits after tax over roughly 20 years.
“The Adani Group has always upheld and is steadfastly committed to maintaining the highest standards of governance, transparency and regulatory compliance across all jurisdictions of its operations,” the statement added. “We assure our stakeholders, partners and employees that we are a law-abiding organisation, fully compliant with all laws,” it added.