Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday addressed the Lok Sabha in reply to the 'Motion of Thanks' . On Tuesday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and accused him of favoring Gautam Adani ever since he was elected in 2014. Although Prime Minister Modi did not take Rahul Gandhi's name, he launched a veiled and poetic attack on Rahul Gandhi. In fact, PM Modi used a couplet by Indian Urdu poet Jigar Moradabadi to attack Rahul Gandh. He said, "Ye keh keh ke hum dil ko behla rahe hain, woh ab chal chuke hain, woh ab aa rahe hain".
Furthermore, taking a veiled dig at Rahul Gandhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "From the speech, it becomes clear what is the intelligence of a person, what is a mindset of a person, what is the aim of a person."
PM Modi begins his reply by quoting Jigar Moradabadi's couplet:
— Harikishan Sharma (@harikishan1) February 8, 2023
ये कह कह के हम दिल को बहला रहे हैं
वो अब चल चुके हैं वो अब आ रहे हैं .https://t.co/GKgQ7D63SC
"I was watching yesterday. After the speeches of a few people, some people were happily saying, "Ye hui na baat." Maybe they slept well & couldn't wake up (on time). For them it has been said, "Ye keh keh ke hum dil ko behla rahe hain,wo ab chal chuke hain, wo ab aa rahe hain," said PM Modi.
Furthermore, PM Modi talks about COVID-19, the Russia-Ukraine war India faced, saying, "There's no life without challenges, but what is stronger, and bigger than the challenges is the trust of the 140 crore people. In spite of the challenges, India is the 5th largest economy of the world "
Attack on Opposition
"Proud moment of India for its 140 cr people. However, now I feel, earlier I did not feel so, that there are some people who are sad even about India's progress," said PM Modi, continuing his attack on the opposition, after speeches of Rahul Gandhi, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Asaduddin Owaisi among others.
What Rahul Gandhi had said in Lok Sabha against PM Modi?
Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday linked Gautam Adani's meteoric rise to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's coming to power and said "magic" happened after 2014 that propelled the businessman from the 609th to the second spot on the global rich list. The Congress leader's remarks drew a sharp response from the treasury benches, with Law Minister Kiren Rijiju asking him not to level "wild allegations" and furnish proof of his claims.
Speaker Om Birla disapproved of the Congress leader displaying two pictures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi - one in which he can be seen with Adani inside a plane and the other in which he is getting down from a plane which has an Adani logo on it - to highlight their alleged proximity.
Posing questions for the prime minister, Gandhi asked how many times has he travelled together on a foreign trip with Adani.
"How many times did Adani ji join you later on a visit? How many times Adani ji travelled to a country immediately after you visited the country? How many times Adaniji bagged a contract in a foreign country after your visit there?" Gandhi said.
He asked how much money Adani has given to the BJP in the last 20 years, including through electoral bonds.
Gandhi also hit out at Modi for slamming the Opposition over its criticism of the Rafale deal by allegedly overlooking the capabilities of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
"Yesterday the prime minister said at HAL that we hurled wrong allegations. But in reality, HAL's contract of 126 aircraft went to Anil Ambani, who then went bankrupt," Gandhi said.
Gandhi, who just completed his over 4,000 km Bharat Jodo Yatra, said people asked him how Adani got into so many businesses and succeeded, as well as what is the nature of his relationship with the prime minister.
Adani gets contracts wherever PM visits: Rahul
"From Tamil Nadu, Kerala to Himachal Pradesh, we have been listening one name everywhere 'Adani'. Across the entire country, it's just 'Adani', 'Adani', 'Adani'...," Gandhi said.
He said that during the yatra people also asked him how Adani's net worth increased from USD 8 billion to 140 billion between 2014 and 2022.
"The (Adani-Modi) relationship began many years ago when Narendra Modi was Gujarat CM. When most of India was asking questions of the prime minister, was against the PM (then CM Narendra Modi), one man stood shoulder to shoulder with PM Modi, he was loyal to the prime minister and helped Mr Modi construct the idea of a resurgent Gujarat," Gandhi said.
Adani-Hindenburg report
Adani was the backbone in setting up a group of businessmen in Gujarat, he said, adding that the result was a tremendous expansion of Adani's businesses in Gujarat.
"Then the real magic starts, when the PM comes to Delhi and the real magic begins in 2014. In 2014, he was in 609th spot on the list of richest people and climbed to the second spot," the former Congress chief said.
Gandhi also raised the issue of the report by US-based Hindenburg Research, saying it alleged that Adani has shell companies abroad.
Pointing out that Adani works in strategic sectors, he said the government must find out about these shell companies as to who controls them as this is a national security issue.
The opposition has been demanding a joint parliamentary committee probe or a Supreme Court-monitored investigation into the allegations of fraud and manipulation made by Hindenburg Research against Adani's companies that triggered an unprecedented stock crash. The group has denied the charges.
Citing various examples, Gandhi alleged that the government tweaked rules in favour of Adani and said that the clause that no one without any prior experience would be involved in the development of airports was done away with.