On Saturday, April 8, Congress national secretary Jairam Ramesh expressed reservations about the Supreme Court-monitored investigation into Hindenburg’s charges against the Adani Group and demanded that the matter is investigated by a joint parliamentary committee (JPC). The Congress leader alleged that the committee will not be able to probe all angles as its role is very limited.
“The Supreme Court Committee has very limited terms of reference. It cannot bring out the deep nexus between PM and Adani,” tweeted AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh.
“Only a JPC can find answers to the HAHK (Hum Adanike Hain Kaun) series of 100 questions and more that are emerging,” he also said, adding that the “JPCs in 1992 and 2001 were both worthwhile exercises,” the Congress loyalist added.
The Supreme Court Committee has very limited terms of reference. It cannot bring out the deep nexus between PM & Adani.
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) April 8, 2023
Only a JPC can find answers to the HAHK(Hum Adanike Hain Kaun)series of 100 qns & more that are emerging.
JPCs in 1992 & 2001 were both worthwhile exercises.
Before that, responding to a tweet by Rahul Gandhi, Jairam Ramesh had tweeted, “Derail, Distort, Divert and Defame. This Mr. M’s 4D policy.” He posted this retweeting a tweet by Rahul Gandhi where he posted a graphic merging the name Adani with the names of “Ghulam, Scindia, Kiran, Himanta, Anil”, five former Congress leaders, four of whom have joined BJP.
Derail, Distort, Divert and Defame. This Mr. M's 4D policy https://t.co/XmsbfrlGXa
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) April 8, 2023
Congress’ Maharashtra ally and NCP chief Sharad Pawar bats for SC committee
The remark came a day after Sharad Pawar, the chief of the Nationalist Congress Party, an alliance partner of Congress in Maharashtra, opined that the Supreme Court-monitored panel will be more useful and effective than a joint parliamentary committee to probe the Adani issue.
On Friday, while batting for the SC committee, the NCP supremo said during an interview with NDTV, “On the other hand, the opposition wanted a parliamentary committee to be appointed. If a parliamentary committee is appointed, then monitoring is with the ruling party. The demand was against the ruling party, and if the committee appointed for an inquiry has a ruling party majority, then how will the truth comes out is a valid concern. If the Supreme Court, who no one can influence, if they were to conduct the inquiry, then there was a better chance of the truth coming to light. So, after the Supreme Court announced an inquiry, there was no significance of a JPC Probe. It was not needed,” he added.
On being questioned on Congress’s intent behind pushing for a JPC probe, the NCP supremo said, “I cannot say what the intent was but I know that a committee appointed by judges of the Supreme Court was very important, this is what I know. Maybe the reasoning could have been that once a JPC starts, its proceedings are reported in the media on a daily basis. Perhaps someone would have wanted the issue to fester for two to four months, but the truth would never have come out.”
Speaking to NDTV about the attack on the Adani Group by the Congress Party, the NCP stalwart said unequivocally that it seemed like a targeted attack to him. Pawar also made it clear that he did not agree with Rahul Gandhi’s “Adani-Ambani” strategy of targeting large corporations.
Congress continues to demand a JPC probe into allegations levelled by Hindenburg against the Adani Group
Even as Pawar denounced attacking business groups, his political ally in Congress remained among the political parties who ratcheted up the attack against the Adani Group after Hindenburg Research reported on the business conglomerate.
Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has repeatedly trotted out ‘Adani and Ambani’ jibes to attack the current dispensation even as Congress-ruled state governments have generously indulged the businessmen.
On Thursday, April 6, the final day of the second leg of the budget session, both Houses were rocked by continuous sloganeering by the Opposition seeking a JPC probe into the Adani case. While Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla was speaking about the House’s productivity, opposition leaders entered the House well with placards calling for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to investigate the Adani-Hindenburg issue.
