Oppn stages protest march from Parliament to ED office, seek probe in Adani issue

New Delhi: Opposition parties led by the Congress staged protest march from Parliament House to the office of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday, to hand over a complaint to the probe agency on the Adani issue.

The protest march was joined by the DMK, Left, Samajwadi Party, JDU, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray faction), and AAP, among others.

The Trinamool Congress is not participating in the protest march as it has said that it will raise its own issues in Parliament.

An impasse between the BJP and Opposition continued on the third day of Parliament as they traded charges over allegations against the Adani group and Rahul Gandhi’s comments in London.

Amid the ruckus, both Houses were adjourned till 2 p.m. on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said there is no question of apology over Rahul Gandhi’s remarks and those demanding so must answer on Prime Minister Narendra Modi “humiliating” people of India with his comments abroad.

“We demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) investigation of Adani issue. However, the BJP doesn’t want a JPC as it will bring out the corruption and expose their real face. They wanted a JPC till they were in opposition, now they are scared,” leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said during the march.

Several opposition parties including the Congress, DMK, AAP, Left and Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena faction among others have written to ED, seeking a probe regarding Adani issue.

The parties have urged the agency -to investigate “a relationship that has serious implications not just for our economy but, most importantly, our democracy”.

The opposition cited accusations against the Adani Group that say it has established a network of offshore shell companies and offshore funds linked to the group “for the purposes of artificially inflating stock valuations and to give a distorted picture with regard to the group companies’ financial health”.

The opposition further alleges a “clear causal link” between the offshore entities and the Adani Group’s Indian companies — a reference to Gautam Adani’s brother Vinod, who they say is “alleged to be the person crucial to setting up these networks”.

The opposition letter also alleged that the group “repeatedly exercised improper influence to obtain concessions and contracts from governments and regulated entities”.