BJP has ‘nothing to hide or be afraid of,’ says Amit Shah on Adani-Hindenburg row

Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that there is nothing for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to hide or be afraid of in the Hindenburg Research-Adani Group row. He added that it would not be appropriate for him to comment further as the Supreme Court has taken cognisance of the matter.

Replying to a question on the opposition’s allegations of the BJP favouring Gautam Adani and his conglomerate, Shah told ANI’s Smita Prakash in an interview, “The Supreme Court has taken cognisance of the matter. As a minister, if the Supreme Court is seized of the matter it is not right for me to comment. But in this, there is nothing for the BJP to hide and nothing to be afraid of.”

He also commented on Rahul Gandhi’s recent Lok Sabha speech and noted it is for him or his scriptwriters to decide what speech he wants to give. Rahul Gandhi’s Lok Sabha address was largely focused on the Adani Group stocks rout following the Hindenburg report which came out in late January this year.

In his Lok Sabha speech, Gandhi attacked the Narendra Modi-led NDA government over the Hindenburg report on Gautam Adani and his companies. During the course of his speech, Gandhi also pressed the charge of “crony capitalism” on the current dispensation. Certain remarks by Gandhi against Prime Minister Narendra Modi were, however, expunged from the records.

Shah stated, “There is no question. Nobody has been able to level such an allegation against the BJP till date. During their era, agencies be it CAG or CBI, they had registered cases taking cognisance of corruption. There were scams of Rs 12 lakh crore.”

The report claimed that the meteoric rise in Adani’s fortunes happened after the BJP came to power in 2014 as he rose to the second spot in the global rich list from the 609th spot eventually The Hindenburg report against Adani and his group of companies has become a major political issue with Congress and other opposition parties. While some opposition parties have sought a probe by the joint parliamentary committee, others have targeted Prime Minister Modi.

The opposition has also raised concerns about the investment of LIC and some public sector banks in the ports-to-power conglomerate.

(With agency inputs)

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