Modi targets Rahul over ‘silence on Adani, Ambani’; Cong is aware of Pitroda’s racist comments

Prime Minister Narendra Modi caused a stir on Wednesday by naming India’s two top industrialists at an election rally and accusing the Congress of having a “deal” with “Ambani and Adani”.

Addressing a public meeting at Vemulawada in Telangana, Modi stunned everyone when he claimed that the Congress was keeping silent on Ambani and Adani because the party had taken “tons of black money” from both industrial.

“I ask him (Rahul Gandhi) to declare how much money they took from them. After the failure of his tirade against the Rafale, he started chanting “five industrialists, five industrialists, five industrialists”. Later, he started singing ‘Ambani-Adani’. But after the election schedule was announced, he suddenly stopped abusing Ambani and Adani overnight,” Modi said. “Was there a deal?” Why did you stop abusing Ambani and Adani overnight,” he asked. “There is something suspicious (daal mai kuch kaalaa hai),” he said.

In a clear reference to the two industrialists, the Prime Minister affirmed that “chori ka maal (ill-gotten money)” was given to the Congress to prevent Rahul Gandhi from targeting them.

“I want to ask Telangana ground, let the Shehzada announce, how much has been withdrawn from Ambani-Adani. Have huge sums of money reached Congress? What deal was made that Ambani-Adani abuses stopped overnight? said the Prime Minister. “This means you received tempo charges of ‘chori ka maal‘(loot)…Kaale dhan ki kitni boriya bharkar ke rupaye maare hai (how many bags of black money you took) You have to answer to the nation,” he said.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi immediately refuted Modi’s allegations, saying Rahul Gandhi criticized Ambani and Adani on a daily basis. She was talking to Rae Bareli. Rahul Gandhi also responded with a sarcastic tweet. “The country knows who is the driving force and helper of the BJP’s pace of corruption,” he said.

The Congress has accused the Prime Minister of favoring the country’s top five industrialists, including Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani.

In a sharp response, Rahul Gandhi asked whether Modi was speaking from his “personal experience” when he mentioned “one-rate money” sent by Ambani and Adani. “Modi ji, are you a little scared? Normally you talk about Adani and Ambani behind closed doors, but for the first time you talk about Adani and Ambani in public,” Gandhi said in a 46-second video message, posted on X by the Congress.

“Do one thing: send the CBI, ED to them and do a thorough investigation and don’t be afraid,” Gandhi said.

Adani shares fall

Most Adani Group shares fell slightly between 10:15 am and 10:17 am when Modi made the surprising statement. For example, Adani Enterprises rose from ₹2,886.90 to ₹2,855.50. However, the stock later recovered to a high of ₹2,880 before closing at ₹2,860.17, up 0.87% from the previous day’s close.

Pitroda’s blunder

Modi also used his two Telangana rallies to address Rahul’s mentor Sam Pitroda’s remarks that South Indians are like Africans. “The prince’s philosopher looks down on dark-skinned people. How can we judge people’s capabilities based on their skin color,” he said in his speech in Warangal.