Rahul reacts to Pawar's comments on Adani issue, says will not pipe down

A day after NCP supremo Sharad Pawar found fault with the campaign against Adani led by the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi on Saturday sent a strong message that he will not pipe down and sought to link Congress renegades with the conglomerate, alleging that they were misleading and hiding the truth about it.

Linking Ghulam Nabi Azad, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kiran Kumar Reddy, Himanta Biswas Sarma and Anil Antony to Adani, he said, "they hide the truth, that's why they mislead everyday! The question remains the same - who has ₹20,000 crore benami money in Adani's companies?"

While Azad, Scindia and Sarma were chosen for their recent remarks targeting Rahul, Reddy and Anil found place in his tweets as they joined the BJP in the last couple of days.

Azad has held Rahul responsible for his exit from Congress while Scindia has called his former friend-leader a traitor while others too made comments against Congress and Rahul.

Anil, who joined the BJP, was the first to respond. He tweeted, "this is sad to see a former President of a national party - the so-called PM candidate of the Congress speak like an online/social media cell troll and not like a national leader. Very humbled to see my fledgling name also with these tall stalwarts who have contributed decades for nation building work - and had to leave the party as they preferred to work for India and our people and not for a family."

Also Read: SC committee better than JPC: Pawar

Sarma too hit back later, "it was our decency to have never asked you, on where have you concealed the proceeds of crime from the Bofors and National Herald scams. And how you allowed Ottavio Quattrocchi to escape the clutches of Indian justice multiple times. Anyway, we will meet in the court of law."

Quoting Rahul's tweet, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh tweeted, "Derail, Distort, Divert and Defame. This is Mr M's 4D policy."

Rahul's tweet comes as Pawar surprised the Opposition parties, saying their demand for JPC was faulty and it appeared that there was a deliberate campaign against the conglomerate. Congress issued a measured statement without irking the NCP patriarch but made it clear that other Opposition parties were still demanding a JPC probe into the Adani affair.

Earlier, Rahul had agreed to Pawar on Savarkar issue that he would pipe down his criticism of VD Savarkar for "friend" Shiv Sena (UBT) without diluting his ideological position. However, his tweet indicated that on the Adani issue, he was unwilling to adopt a middle path.

Also Read: Sharad Pawar's stand on Adani will not affect Oppn unity, says Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut

Pawar on Saturday said he favoured a Supreme Court committee probe into the allegations. However, Ramesh countered it in another tweet, "the Supreme Court Committee has very limited terms of reference. It cannot bring out the deep nexus between the Prime Minister and Adani. Only a JPC can find answers to the HAHK (Hum Adanike Hain Kaun) series of 100 questions and more that are emerging. JPCs in 1992 & 2001 were both worthwhile exercises."

Shiv Sena (UBT) also said that Pawar's stand on the Adani affair will not crack the Opposition unity. Sena leader Sanjay Raut claimed in Mumbai that Pawar has not given a clean chit to Adani but only expressed his views on pursuing the issue.

"Be it (West Bengal chief minister) Mamata Banerjee or NCP, there could be different opinions about Adani, but that will not lead to cracks in (opposition) unity in Maharashtra or in the country," Raut was quoted by PTI as saying.