The Congress senses an opportunity in the alleged financial irregularities of the Adani group to corner the Narendra Modi government and feels that these allegations can prove to be more effective politically compared to the Rafale issue because in the present case, the savings of the middle class are involved.
A key component of the issues raised by former party president Rahul Gandhi in his just concluded Bharat Jodo Yatra was the alleged crony capitalism practised by the Modi government. A recurrent theme in his speeches during the yatra was that the Modi regime has allegedly helped a few industrialists thrive at the cost of the vast majority of Indians and the huge income disparity in the country.
The party has decided to hold a nationwide district-level protest on February 6 in front of Life Insurance Corporation offices and State Bank of India offices. This is being done to emphasise the idea that the alleged Adani irregularities could jeopardise the hard-earned money of the people.
It is felt that the issue has the potential to dent the image of Modi since Adani is perceived as being close to the ruling dispensation. The Congress is emphasising upon the money invested by the LIC and the Indian banks, especially the SBI, in the Adani group. Its leaders have spoken about the investments and savings of the vast middle class of the country being in danger because of the developments.
The party, which has taken the lead in mobilising the opposition on the issue in Parliament, has demanded a JPC probe or an inquiry under the supervision of the Chief Justice of India in the alleged scam. Joint opposition protests have been carried out in Parliament, and the session so far has seen little business getting transacted.
The Congress has in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections in 2019 taken up the issue of alleged irregularities in the procurement of the Rafale fighter aircraft. However, it was later assessed that the allegations just did not stick to Modi and the party would have done better by focusing on other issues. However, it is felt that the allegations against the Adani group have a greater potential to make a political impact, and the development ties up well with the 'suit-boot ki sarkar' line taken by Rahul.
The party has circulated a portion of Rahul's interaction with former Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan during the yatra in which he had spoken about the risk involved in investing in Adani stocks. It has pointed out that Rahul has been correct in his assessment of the Modi government's policies, be it demonetisation, COVID management or the growth of the Adani group.
