Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi
Credit: PTI File Photo
New Delhi: Non-appearance of SEBI chief Madhabi Puri Buch before a Parliamentary committee has renewed the Congress offensive against the Narendra Modi government over the Adani Group issue with Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi taking the lead.
Assembly elections had overtaken the Congress' focus on Adani Group in the past few weeks but the latest developments have given ammunition to the Opposition campaign that "Prime Minister Modi is helping the conglomerate, which has interests in a variety of sectors."
As Buch cited “personal exigencies” to skip the October 24 meeting of the multi-party PAC headed by senior Congress leader KC Venugopal, it was Rahul who took the lead from the Congress camp to draw a parallel to her non-appearance and possible alleged links to the Adani Group issue.
He followed it up with an expression of willingness to get involved in the party's communications campaign to "help small investors guard their money", linking the issue to Buch's role as the head of the regulator while facing allegations of conflict of interest.
Sources said Rahul wanted the Communications Department to go aggressive on the issue, and released a video 'Buch Bachao Syndicate' in which he also holds a conversation with Congress Media and Publicity Department head Pawan Khera on the issue.
“Save her from answering in the PAC, save from resigning from SEBI, save Adani from investigation. Who is this syndicate that is protecting Buch? And more importantly, why is he protecting them? All will be revealed soon - stay tuned!” Rahul posted the video with this remark on Saturday.
Buch is facing allegations of conflict of interest raised by US short-seller Hindenburg by linking some of her business activities to the Adani Group while she was either member of the SEBI or its head. Hindenburg had also levelled allegations against Adani, while Modi is facing accusation of favouring the conglomerate.
“Why is Madhabi Buch reluctant to answer questions before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament? Who is behind the plan to protect her from being answerable to the PAC?” Rahul had posted a terse statement on X on October 24.
The Congress is also seeking to flag the “risks to billions of retail investors in the stock market” with Rahul asking Khera to devise innovative ways of cautioning retail investors against “the space of risk”.
While sharing the video, Khera asked whether there is a “well-thought-out conspiracy to risk the hard-earned investments of crores of small-medium investors and benefit Modi-ji's dear friend Adani?”
“It was deeply troubling that SEBI's leadership, which publicly champions measures to boost transparency in the investment sector, has failed to adhere to these very standards within their own practices,” he had said.