New Delhi:

The BJP and the Congress went to the mattresses Thursday after the former accused Rahul Gandhi of being a “traitor” in a scathing attack naming the Leader of the Opposition, “some agencies of America” and billionaire George Soros in a “dangerous triangle that is trying to destabilise India”.

The Congress responded swiftly and strongly, condemning the attack on Mr Gandhi and also calling out another BJP MP, Nishikant Dubey, for “most derogatory words” targeting Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the newly elected Wayanad MP, and the entire opposition party.

The chaos that followed Mr Dubey’s furious attack prompted chaos in, and a temporary adjournment of, the Lok Sabha.

BJP MP Sambit Patra set the ball rolling this morning with a heated press conference in which he declared, “In this triangle… on one side George Soros from America (and) some agencies of America and, on the other side is a big news portal named OCCRP (the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, an Amsterdam-based news network) …” Mr Patra said.

“The last, and most important side, is Rahul Gandhi – a traitor of the highest order. I am not scared to say this word… I don’t have any hesitation in calling the Leader of the Opposition a traitor.”

Mr Patra accused Mr Gandhi of betraying India and claimed he follows OCCRP directives.

“OCCRP is a global media agency and crores of people read what they publish. Open Society Foundation is a big funder… it is George Soros’s foundation. Such agencies work for the interest of the people who fund them and Rahul Gandhi betraying the whole country…” he added.

That charge was picked up and repeated by the BJP’s Nishikant Dubey in the Lok Sabha, triggering vociferous protests from the Congress. Mr Dubey accused the Congress of “conspiring with foreign forces” to derail the government because of their “hatred” for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“George Soros routinely conspires to derail economies of other countries. He was the force behind the closure of the Bank of England in 1991. He accrued benefits of over Rs 6 billion from this. Today, he wants to derail the Indian economy,” Mr Dubey claimed.

Mr Dubey, nearly drowned out by shouting Congress MPs and his BJP colleagues thumping their desks in approval, also demanded Mr Gandhi be investigated for meeting with American lawmakers like Ilhan Omar, who are vocal critics of Prime Minister Modi and his administration.

“The Congress must answer… what transpired in meetings with those who have a history of peddling anti-India agenda on Rahul Gandhi’s foreign tours,” he said.

With input from agencies

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Jairam Ramesh. File
| Photo Credit: ANI

The Congress on October 19 urged the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to stand firm and finish its investigation into the Adani matter in a timely manner, even as it reiterated that only a JPC probe can investigate the full scope of the issue.

In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh cited a media report which claimed that the SEBI has asked the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) to give it access to key documents about the allegations of stock manipulation and accounting fraud against the Adani Group.

“Recently, the Organised Crime & Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) found clinching evidence that Adani associates were controlling opaque shell companies in overseas tax havens that had amassed huge stakes in Adani Group companies. All this was done in blatant violation of SEBI regulations,” Mr. Ramesh said. “Major global papers such as the Financial Times and the Guardian covered the story in detail,” he pointed out.

“The Adani Group and its minions in the BJP attempted to discredit OCCRP as ‘Soros-funded interests’. Now, it emerges that SEBI itself had approached OCCRP to get access to the documents proving that Adani was in fact indulging in round-tripping and money-laundering benami funds,” Mr. Ramesh said. “Will Adani apologists attack SEBI as conspiring with Soros? Does this not prove that SEBI is finally taking these disclosures seriously and attempting to fulfill its duty to the nation,” he said.

“We urge SEBI to stand firm and finish its investigation in a timely manner. However, we reiterate that only a JPC can investigate the full scope of the Adani MegaScam, including the close and enduring relationship, financial or otherwise, between the PM and his friend Adani,” Mr. Ramesh said.

The Opposition party has been questioning the financial dealings of billionaire Gautam Adani’s Group after the U.S. research firm Hindenburg alleged “irregularities” and charged it with stock price manipulation.

The Adani Group has denied all the allegations made in the Hindenburg report and claimed there had been no wrongdoing on its part.

Representational image
| Photo Credit: AMIIT DAVE

Shares of Adani group stocks fell on Thursday after a report from investigative reporting platform OCCRP alleged hundreds of millions of dollars were invested in publicly traded group stocks through Mauritius-based ‘opaque’ investment funds managed by partners of promoter family of billionaire Gautam Adani.

The conglomerate denied the charges vehemently.

On the BSE, the stock of Adani Green Energy nosedived 4.43% to ₹927.65 apiece, with a market capitalisation of ₹1.47 lakh crore.

The scrip of Adani Power plunged 3.82% to ₹315.85, flagship firm Adani Enterprises declined 3.56% to ₹2,424 and Adani Energy Solutions fell 3.18% to ₹814.95 apiece on the bourse.

Shares of ACC dipped 3.15% to ₹1,937.10 and Ambuja Cements fell 2.84% to ₹431.60.

In the morning session, the 30-shares BSE Sensex was trading 38.32 points or 0.06% lower at 65,048.93 points.

The fresh allegations by an organisation funded by likes of George Soros and Rockefeller Brothers Fund come months after a US short seller wiped away close to $150 billion in value of Adani group stocks with allegations of accounting fraud, stock price manipulation and improper use of tax havens by the ports-to-energy conglomerate run by billionaire Gautam Adani. Adani Group has denied all Hindenburg allegations.

Citing review of files from multiple tax havens and internal Adani Group emails, OCCRP (Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project) said its investigation found at least two cases where the “mysterious” investors bought and sold Adani stock through such offshore structures.

The two men, Nasser Ali Shaban Ahli and Chang Chung-Ling, who OCCRP claimed have longtime business ties to the Adani family and have also served as directors and shareholders in Group companies and firms associated with Gautam Adani’s elder brother Vinod Adani, “spent years buying and selling Adani stock through offshore structures that obscured their involvement – and made considerable profits in the process.”

The documents “show that the management company in charge of their investments paid a Vinod Adani company to advice them in their investment”, it alleged.

Adani in a statement categorically rejected what it called as “recycled allegations”, calling them “yet another concerted bid by Soros-funded interests supported by a section of the foreign media to revive the meritless Hindenburg report”.

“These claims are based on closed cases from a decade ago when the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) probed allegations of over invoicing, transfer of funds abroad, related party transactions and investments through FPIs. An independent adjudicating authority and an appellate tribunal had both confirmed that there was no over-valuation and that the transactions were in accordance with applicable law. The matter attained finality in March 2023 when the Supreme Court of India ruled in our favour. Clearly, since there was no over-valuation, there is no relevance or foundation for these allegations on transfer of funds,” it said.