New Delhi [India], November 21 : Bharatiya Janata Party's National Spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla on Thursday questioned the Congress over its criticism of Gautam Adani, asking why the party accepts donations and grants major projects to the Adani Group if it considers the group corrupt.
"If the Congress considers a particular group to be very corrupt, why does it take donations from that group in Telangana? Why does it accept an investment of Rs 12,000 crore in Telangana? Why was this group given major projects when Congress was in power in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh?" Poonwalla said.
He also challenged Congress leader and the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, to clarify his position, pointing out that the states mentioned in the report were governed by the allies of the INDIA block at the time.
"Has Rahul Gandhi read the report? The states mentioned in the report are Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh. Whose government was there? Rahul Gandhi is saying that the state governments of the INDI Alliance were involved in corruption," Poonwalla said.
Earlier today, Sambit Patra also said that the dispute mentioned in the report is about the agreement on electricity purchase with the State Distribution Companies (SDCs) of four states, dated from July 2021- February 2022.
"Because the documents are available in the public domain, people have seen these documents, we have also seen the documents. The whole issue is about the agreement for the electricity purchase with the State Distribution Companies (SDCs). There are two companies, one Indian, and one American and there are four Indian states involved in it. This whole matter was dated between July 2021- February 2022," Patra said.
He added that SDCs are owned by state governments and at that time, all these states were either ruled by Congress or its allies and not by BJP. Patra welcomed Rahul Gandhi's demand for investigation, saying that an investigation should be conducted against all those Chief Ministers who were ruling these states between the time period of July 2021- February 2022.
Earlier today, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi called for Adani's arrest and said that it is "clear" and "established" that the Adani Group Chairman has broken both American and Indian laws.
"Wherever there is corruption, investigation should be done. But the investigation will begin with Adani. Unless he is arrested, it won't be credible. So, begin it from there. Arrest Adani, interrogate him and then nab whoever is involved. In the end, Narendra Modi's name will come out because BJP's entire funding structure is in his hands. So, even if the PM wants, he can't do anything. In a way, Adani has hijacked the country. India is in Adani's grip," Rahul Gandhi said.
US prosecutors had charged Gautam Adani and others in an alleged Solar Energy contract bribery case. A five-count criminal indictment has been unsealed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, charging prominent Indian executives including the Chairman of the Adani Group Gautam Adani by linking them to an alleged bribery and fraud scheme.
However, the Adani Group strongly refuted bribery allegations made by the US Department of Justice and the US Securities and Exchange Commission against directors of the Adani Green as baseless.
The Adani Group spokesperson in an official statement said all legal recourse will be taken.
"The US Department of Justice and the US Securities and Exchange Commission against directors of Adani Green are baseless and denied," the statement read.