Our duty to question govt: Kharge reiterates demand for JPC amid Adani row

New Delhi [India] February 10 : Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday reiterated his party's demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the businesses of the Adani Group in the wake of the report by US short-seller firm Hindenburg Research.
Addressing a press conference on Friday, Kharge said, "Shouldn't there be an inquiry into the Adani scam? Shouldn't the matter be referred to the JPC? Should not there be a discussion on the money that public sector banks invested in Adani's businesses? Public money is involved in it. Why does the government have a problem taking Adani's name?"
Kharge alleged that PM Modi acted as an 'agent' for the Adani group of companies.
The Congress national president added, "Modi-ji acted as Adani's agent and got him tenders in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Everybody knows about this."
Questioning the regulatory bodies of the country, Kharge said, "The RBI, SEBI, ED, Corporate Affairs Ministry, Income Tax, and the CBI seem paralysed. Can they not see the corruption here? Is Adani invisible to them? With our institutions in inertia, it is our duty to question the government. The people sent us to the Parliament as their representatives and it is our responsibility to safeguard public."
"We tried to raise several issues in the Parliament. However, the Prime Minister evaded all questions and just gave an election speech, boasting about himself," Kharge added.
The veteran Congress leader said, "We did not say anything unparliamentary. Adani's shares are falling, not just India but across the world. The country's poor are being affected. We want a Joint Parliamentary Committee to inquire into the Adani businesses."
"The Modi government asked us to back our claims with proof. We get our information from newspapers, television and from you all (reporters). We go to the people and interact with them. But I wasn't allowed to say what I wanted to," Kharge added.
Meanwhile, taking a serious note of the Opposition uproar in the Upper House on Friday over the demand for JPC probe into the Adani businesses in the wake of the report by US short-seller firm Hindenbug Research, Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar lost his cool and warned the protesting MPs that "every transgression from both sides would not go without his deep reflection".
The outburst came amid a heated exchange of words between Union Minister Piyush Goyal and Kharge, who is also the Leader of the Opposition in the Upper House, after the Congress alleged that Prime Minister Modi has 'links' with industrialist Gautam Adani.