NEW DELHI: Both the houses of Parliament were adjourned for the third consecutive day on Monday without transacting hardly any business over the situation having arisen out of the report published by American research organisation and short-seller Hindenburg about the shares of Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL).

The opposition led by the Congress created pandemonium in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha and disrupted the proceedings. This forced the presiding officers of both the houses to adjourn Parliament’s business for another day.
Alleging a scam in the shares of AEL, the opposition has been demanding a probe by a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) into the whole matter.
Parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi took to Twitter to vent out the government’s sentimets against the opposition, particularly the Congress, over the continued disruption of Parliament.
In a series of tweets, the minister said, “Classic case of sounding more loyal than the king! The facts are – Congress is least interested in letting Parliament run. They are least bothered about pro-people legislation being brought and they detest the historic productivity of Parliament under the Modi government.”

He alleged that In the last nine years, the Congress had disrespected all parliamentary traditions. “Their leaders prefer holidays abroad instead of attending Parliament. They have even insulted the Hon’ble President when most of their top leadership preferred to stay away from her address to both houses.”
Joshi charged the Congress with shying away from letting Parliament run. He said the Congress feared that the government would get praise for a “development-oriented” Budget and which they did not want that to happen. It was better the Congress showed some concern for tax payers’ money and let Parliament function, he said, adding that the issues being raised by the Congress have been spoken about by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman repeatedly.
Finally, Joshi said, “Today, it is being globally acknowledged that India is a bright spot in the world economy. Congress isn’t able to digest this and thus prefers petty politics.”

The minister was responding to Rajya Sabha MP and Congress’s in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh’s remarks about the adjournment of Parliament. “Yet again for the third day in a row, the Opposition (was) not allowed to even mention in Parliament its legitimate demand for JPC into PM-linked Adani MahaMegaScam. Adjourned till 2pm. Modi government is simply running away!”
Ramesh retorted to the parliamentary affairs minister. He said, “Surely you can do better than this, Minister avare. Fact is (the) opposition is not being allowed to even mention at 11 am its demand – a JPC into PM-linked Adani MahaMegaScam.”
Meanwhile, Ramesh has launched a campaign called HAHK (Hum Adani ke Hain Kaun) to target the Modi government. He announced that he would be asking three questions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the matter. The title of the drive has been derived from a 1994 Salman Khan-Madhuri Dixit starring Bollywood movie Hum Aapke Hain Kaun.
On Sunday, he said, “The eloquent silence of the PM on the Adani MahaMegaScam has forced us to start a series, HAHK – Hum Adani ke Hain Kaun. We will be posing three questions to the PM daily beginning today. Here are the first three. Chuppi Todiye Pradhan Mantriji (Break your silence prime minister).”

Ramesh issued a statement on Sunday and asked the first three questions to the PM. He said in response to the Panama Papers expose on April 4, 2016, the ministry of finance announced that the PM had personally directed a multi-agency investigative group to monitor financial flows to and from offshore tax havens.
Subsequently, Ramesh said, at the G20 summit in Hangzhou, China on September 5, 2016, the PM stated: “We need to act to eliminate safe havens for economic offenders, track down and unconditionally extradite money launderers and break down the web of complex international regulations and excessive banking secrecy that hide the corrupt and their deeds.”

He said this led to some questions that the PM could not hide from. “Vinod Adani, the brother of Gautam Adani, was named in the Panama Papers and the Pandora Papers as someone who operates offshore entities in the Bahamas and the British Virgin Islands. He is alleged to have engaged in ‘brazen stock manipulation’ and ‘accounting fraud’ via ‘a vast labyrinth of offshore shell entities’. You have spoken often about your sincerity and ‘niyat’ in fighting corruption and even subjected the nation to the heavy costs of demonetisation. What does the fact that a business entity you are well acquainted with faces serious allegations tell us about the quality and sincerity of your investigations?” Ramesh’s first question said.
His second question said: “Over the years you have misused agencies like the Enforcement Directorate, Central Bureau of Investigation and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence to intimidate your political opponents and to punish business houses that do not fall in line with your cronies’ financial interests. What action has been taken, if ever, to investigate the serious allegations made over the years against the Adani Group? Is there any hope of a fair and impartial investigation under you?”
In the third question, the Congress MP said, “How is it possible that one of India’s largest business groups, one that has been allowed to build monopolies in airports and seaports, could have escaped serious scrutiny for so long despite persistent allegations? Other business groups have been harassed and raided for much less. Was the Adani Group essential to a dispensation that has profited from ‘anti- corruption’ rhetoric all of these years?”
On Monday, the head of Congress’s media again asked three questions to the PM, calling it HAHK-2.

Here is today’s set of 3 questions for the Prime Minister, HAHK-2 (Hum Adanike Hai Kaun) so to speak. His silence i… https://t.co/To6sucgx5A

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) 1675675650000

His first question said, “Your government has a track record of bailing out failing disinvestments such as IDBI Bank, New India Assurance and General Insurance Corporation using LIC funds. It’s one thing to bail out public sector companies and quite another to use the savings of 30 crore loyal policy- holders to enrich your friends. How did LIC make such a heavy allocation to the risky Adani Group that even private fund managers had steered clear of? Is it not the duty of the government to ensure that vital public sector financial institutions are more conservative in their investments than their private sector counterparts? Or was this another case of your ‘Mann Ki Banking’ to benefit your cronies?”
In the second question, the Congress general secretary said, “The allegations of fraud and money-laundering against the Adani Group have been known for some time. There have been many questions over who are the ultimate beneficial owners of major funds investing in the Adani Group. There have been as many as four major fraud investigations including one by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) into the true ownership of its offshore investors. Given this knowledge, did anyone in the Prime Minister’s Office, ministry of finance or the LIC itself raise any concerns about these questionable investments? Were such concerns overruled and, if so, by whom?”

Adani row: Opposition parties hold protest inside Parliament premises, demand JPC probe

Ramesh’s final question said, “After the first selloff following the Hindenburg allegations, the value of Adani Group stocks held by LIC fell by Rs 32,000 crore, bringing the value of those holdings to Rs 56,142 crore on January 27, 2023 by LIC’s own admission. Since then several Adani infrastructure stocks have further crashed by another 50%. Will you share the true extent of LIC’s losses from its Adani investments after January 24? The listed price of LIC itself has fallen by 14% in the last two weeks compared with a dip of 2% in the Nifty50 index. As LIC’s misguided Adani investments are eroding the confidence of its 34 lakh retail shareholders, What steps will you take to ease their concerns?”
While the government has not responded to these questions yet, the opposition led by the Congress is unlikely to allow the ongoing budget session to function to press for its demands for a JPC into the AEL controversy.