"Ready To Speak On President's Address But First...," Kharge On Adani Issue

Mallikarjun Kharge, the president of the Congress and the leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha, stated on Monday that while the opposition is prepared to speak on the president's address, the "first priority" is for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to respond to the ongoing Hindenburg-Adani dispute.

"We are ready to speak on President's address and we give it its due importance. But first priority is that Prime Minister Modi give a reply on the Adani issue," Kharge told ANI after opposition parties staged a protest near the Gandhi statue in the Parliament complex. Discussion on Motion of Thanks to the President's Address is scheduled to be taken up in both houses today.

Leaders of opposition parties met earlier today at Kharge's chambers to chalk out their strategy. Members of the Congress were present at the meeting, including the DMK, NCP, BRS, JD(U), SP, CPM, CPI, Kerala Cong (Jose Mani), JMM, RLD, RSP, AAP, IUML, RJD, and Shiv Sena.

Accusing the Centre of avoiding a discussion on the Adani issue in the parliament, Kharge said, "They do not want this matter not to be raised or discussed".

"They want to avoid it somehow and do not want to bring it to record," Kharge claimed.

"We demand discussion on our notices (in Parliament). we're ready for a detailed discussion. We want it (Adani issue) to be taken up first," Kahrge told reporters.

They demanded a Joint Parliament Committe investigation or Supreme Court-monitored probe into the Hindenburg-Adani row.

KC Venugopal, Congress MP, said the central Government has been now exposed over the Adani issue. "Government wants to hide everything," he said.

"We want a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the Adani issue and the Central government is not ready to have a discussion on the Adani issue," Venugopal said.

As per sources, Opposition parties have decided that they will ask for an adjournment motion in both houses to discuss the issue.

"Opposition parties have decided to discuss no business other than the Adani issue in the parliament," sources said.

A report by a US-based Hindenburg Research surfaced on January 24, claiming that the Adani Group had weak business fundamentals, and was involved in stock manipulation and accounting fraud, among others. The report triggered a sell-off of shares of all Adani Group companies.

Meanwhile, Congress is set for a countrywide protest in front of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) offices and State Bank of India (SBI) branches today to protest against the alleged Adani scam.

Although the Congress is getting the support of other Opposition parties on the Adani issue, it has to be seen whether the parties such as the Bharat Rashtra Samithi, Aam Aadmi Party and Trinamool Congress, which are seen together in the meetings, will join the Congress demonstration or extend moral support.

However, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Janata Dal (Secular) have kept their distance from Congress on this issue.

It is being argued by the Opposition that the investment of the Adani Group in public sector banks such as the SBI and LIC has had a big impact on the savings of the middle class.

Opposition MPs said the government was not allowing the issue to be discussed in Parliament. After the uproar in Parliament, the proceedings of both Houses of Parliament were adjourned on Friday till today. (ANI)