Narendra Modi is right, Adani-Ambani should be an important poll topic

New Delhi: At an election rally in Telanganas Karimnagar on Wednesday (May 8), Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduced a new issue in his election campaign: a deal he said the Congress had struck with business tycoons Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani. These are two businessmen from Gujarat whom the Modi administration has been accused of favoring during its tenure, with opposition leaders alleging that the prime minister had sold the country to the duo.

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You must have seen how Congress Shahzade [referring to Rahul Gandhi] has spent the last five years repeating the same thing. Since their Rafale deal was grounded, they started praying for a new rhythm. For five years, it was the same repetition: five businessmen, five businessmen, five businessmen. Then slowly the melody changed, it became Ambani-Adani, Ambani-Adani, Ambani-Adani. But since the elections were announced, he has stopped abusing Ambani-Adani. So I ask him today in Telangana, how much money did he take from Ambani-Adani? How many bags of black money did he take from him? Modi said.>

First of all. The premise of Modi's speech that the Congress in general and Rahul Gandhi in particular stopped talking about Adani and Ambani during the elections is false. On April 24, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge saidWhat happens in this country is that there are two sellers and two buyers. The sellers are Modi and Shah and the buyers are Ambani and Adani. At an election rally in Coimbatore on April 12, Rahul had saidThe policies of Narendra Modi and Adani have created two Indias. An India of billionaires and an India of poor people. He had also repeatedly raised the issue of the two billionaires and their growing wealth during his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.

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But that aside, Modi is right that there are several concerns regarding Adani and Ambani that the people of India might want to take seriously as they vote for the next government of their choice. The India Today Mood of the Nation poll released earlier this year find that 52% of people think that economic policies are made to help big businesses.>

Here's a list, in case he wants to raise this question and provide answers at his upcoming rallies.

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1. Ambani-Adani's wealth rises as Indian economy suffers>

The Adanis and Ambanis have seen their wealth increase significantly over the past 10 years, even during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the economy was largely at a standstill and millions of Indians struggled to earn an income. Ambani is currently The richest person in Asia, followed closely by Adani. Both find their name among the 15 richest people in the world. Meanwhile, the Indian economy as a whole was prey by record household savings, decline in real wages and serious unemployment.>

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2. A slow and late investigation into Adanis market manipulation allegations

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It has been 15 months since US short seller Hindenburg Research published its report accusing the Adani group of stock market manipulation and accounting fraud. In India, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has been tasked with investigating these allegations, and the Modi regime has not accepted opposition demands for a joint parliamentary committee investigation into the matter. . After Hindenburg, financial journalists uncovered new evidence of wrongdoing. Yet little action has been taken against the group so far, despite SEBI also confirms that there were irregularities.>

3. Expulsion from the parliament of Mahua Moitras>

Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra was summarily expelled from the Lok Sabha following a procedure heavily criticized by opposition parties. It has been suggested that the Modi regime targeted Moitra because of the issues she was raising in Parliament, particularly those regarding the Adani Group (read more about them) here). These are questions that the Modi government is yet to answer.>

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Rahul Gandhi also alleged that his disqualification of Parliament (he was later reinstated) and the action against him in a defamation case was triggered by his speeches mentioning the Adani group.>

4. Allegations of government favoritism>

Why were Adani and Ambani brought up in the first place? Because during its years in power, the Modi government made several decisions that observers say were aimed at satisfying corporate interests: the controversial (and now repealed) agricultural laws, airport privatization, modification of mining rules and more.

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(With contributions from Seema Chishti)>