Sharad Pawar surprises Opposition with spirited defence of Adani in TV interview

Pawar-led NCP did not participate in joint protests against Adani

NCP supremo Sharad Pawar on Friday surprised his colleagues in the Opposition with a spirited defence of the Adani Group through an interview in a news channel owned by the conglomerate and opposed the demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into it.

Pawar, whose party has kept away from the Opposition protests on Adani that included a joint complaint to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against the group, questioned the Hindenburg report and expressed displeasure over disruptions in Parliament over the issue even as it batted for Opposition unity.

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Soon after, a surprised Congress underlined that the NCP may have its own views but 19 like-minded parties are “convinced that the PM-linked Adani Group issue is real and very serious”.

Party General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh said in a statement, “but all 20 like-minded Opposition parties, including NCP, are united and will be together in saving the Constitution and our democracy from the BJP's assaults and in defeating the BJP's divisive and destructive political, social and economic agenda.”

However, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra minced no words in her tweet, "Adani-owned channel interviewing Adani’s friends to tell us how he is being targeted. Long live Indian Media - you truly are a rare species!"

Barring Trinamool Congress, which had openly favoured a Supreme Court-monitored probe, almost all Opposition parties were jointly raising the demand for a JPC. Pawar-led NCP also joined the Opposition inside Parliament but did not participate in joint protests against Adani.

Referring to the Hindenburg report, he told NDTV, "such statements were given by other individuals too earlier and there was a ruckus in Parliament for a few days but this time out of proportion importance was given to the issue. The issues that were kept, who kept them, we had never heard of these people who gave the statement, what is the background. When they raise issues that cause a ruckus across the country, the cost is borne by the country's economy, we cannot disregard these things. It seems this was targeted."

"An individual industrial group of the country was targeted, that is what it seems. If they have done anything wrong, there should be an inquiry," NDTV, which the Adani Group bought in December last year, quoted him saying.

Read | Explained: How Adani moved stealthily to acquire NDTV stake

He said that he did not support the demand for JPC, saying the Supreme Court has appointed a committee to probe the issue with a Supreme Court judge, an expert, an administrator, and an economist.

"On the other hand, the opposition wanted a parliamentary committee to be appointed. If a parliamentary committee is appointed, then monitoring is with the ruling party. The demand was against the ruling party, and if the committee appointed for an inquiry has a ruling party majority, then how will the truth come out is a valid concern?" he said.

"If the Supreme Court, who no one can influence if they were to conduct the inquiry, then there was a better chance of the truth coming to light. So, after the Supreme Court announced an inquiry, there was no significance of a JPC Probe. It was not needed," he said.

Asked about why Congress was pushing for a JPC, he said he cannot say what was the intent but added the reasoning could be that the media would report the JPC proceedings on a daily basis and "perhaps someone" wanted the issue to "fester for two to four months". He claimed that the truth would not have come out through a JPC probe.