Secret deal' with Cong? Rahul stops attacking Ambani, Adani: PM
Injecting a new twist to the already high octane poll campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday wondered as to why Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has suddenly “stopped talking of Ambani and Adani in this election", implying a “secret deal”.
Injecting a new twist to the already high octane poll campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday wondered as to why Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has suddenly “stopped talking of Ambani and Adani in this election", implying a “secret deal”.
"Daal mein kuchch kaala hai (definitely something is fishy," he said in Vemulavada in Karimnagar (Telangana).
“...the Congress shahzada, for the last five years, has been repeating this. Since his Rafale row was grounded, he started repeating this – first, he spoke of five industrialists, and then Ambani-Adani, Ambani-Adani, Ambani-Adani. But ever since elections were announced, he stopped abusing the two.
"I want to ask the public of Telangana, the shahzada should declare – how much have they taken from Ambani-Adani? How much black money has been taken? Have cash-laden tempos reached the Congress? What’s the deal that’s been struck? Why did you stop abusing Ambani-Adani overnight?"
"Ever since elections have been announced, these people (Congress) have stopped abusing Ambani-Adani. I want to ask from Telangana soil, let the Shehzada announce, how much has been lifted from Ambani-Adani. Has tempo loads of notes (currency) reached the Congress? What deal has been arrived at, that abusing Ambani-Adani has stopped overnight," he asked.
"Certainly something is fishy. For five years, (they) abused Adani-Ambani and it stopped overnight. It means you have received some tempo loads of 'chori ka maal' (loot). You have to answer the nation," the Prime Minister said.
Meanwhile, hitting back at Modi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge claimed that Prime Minister Modi's chair is "shaking" after three phases of elections as he has started attacking his own "friends", and asserted this shows the "real trend" of the results.
"The times are changing. Friends are no longer friends ! After completion of three phases of elections, today the prime minister has started attacking his own friends. It is becoming clear that Modiji's chair is shaking. This is the real trend of the results," Kharge said in a post in Hindi on X.
Party leader Priyanka Gandhi said, "Today he (Modi) is saying Rahul does not take the name of Adani, Ambani....He does so every day. He brings their truth in front of you every day".
"We say every day that they (BJP) have a nexus with industrialists. You must understand that Prime Minister Modi has waived Rs 16 lakh crore of big billionaires. Whose money is this? This is not Modi ji's money. That is the country's money," she said at public meetings in Rae Bareli while campaigning for her brother Rahul Gandhi from the family bastion.
She also alleged that the entire BJP machinery is engaged in spreading "lies" about Rahul Gandhi.
Another Congress leader Praveen Chakravarty said, “Clearly, the PM is pinched and feels the heat of Rahul Gandhi’s constant exposure of his nexus with Adani-Ambani at the cost of the common person and the nation.”
Rahul has consistently slammed the Centre, and the Prime Minister, over policies he says are meant to specifically benefit these industrialists. And Adani-Ambani has been a recurring theme.
The Congress has been attacking the Modi government, accusing the Prime Minister of favouring the top five industrialists in the country, including Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani.
