Adani controversy: PM Modi hits back at opposition, after Rahul Gandhi’s charge

In his address to the Lok Sabha as part of the debate on the President’s address, Modi said “140 crore Indians” had placed their trust and faith in him and tried to identify himself as one of them. The PM said the welfare schemes rolled out by his government had benefited crores of people, especially people who are poor. “Some people are living for themselves and their families, but Modi is living for 25 crore families of the country,” said the Prime Minister.

In his 1 hour-and-27-minute speech, Modi did not mention Adani even once. Modi did indirectly refer to the accusations levelled against him by senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

In his speech on Tuesday, Gandhi had flagged allegations about the award of a power project to Adani in Sri Lanka. “In June 2022, the Chairman of Sri Lanka’s Electricity Board M M C Ferdinando informed a Parliamentary committee in an open hearing that he was told by President (Gotabaya) Rajapaksa that Prime Minister Modi pressured him to give the wind power project directly to Adani,” Gandhi alleged.

Countering this without taking any names, Modi said some people had a habit of levelling baseless allegations and often contradict themselves, something they should introspect upon. These people, Modi said, had been saying since 2014 that India is weakening. “Now they are saying that India is forcing other countries to make decisions. Is India strong or weak? … But by abusing Modi you cannot gain the trust of people.”