A report by the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project prompted Rahul to launch a new attack against the Adani Group. Former ally NCP had previously rejected his request for a JPC investigation. Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the Congress, urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide clarification on claims of round-tripping of funds against the Adani Group on the first day of the two-day meeting of the Opposition alliance INDIA in Mumbai. 

Rahul launched a new attack on the Adani Group at the same time that the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), a global network of investigative journalists, published a report with information that appeared to support the idea that people “closely associated” with the Adani family engaged in stock price manipulation that violated Indian laws. 

According to the report, two investors, Chang Chung-Ling of Taiwan and Nasser Ali Shaban Ahli of the United Arab Emirates, both have “longstanding business ties to the (Adani) family.” According to the report, the pair has held board positions and been shareholders in businesses owned by the Adani Group and those connected to group chairman Gautam Adani’s older brother Vinod Adani. The allegations were rejected by the Adani Group.

Gandhi addressed a press conference on Thursday and criticised the Adani Group for the OCCRP report as well as questioned Vinod Adani and the two foreign nationals. The market regulator, SEBI, is looking into allegations made against the Adani Group by short-seller Hindenburg Research earlier this year. He also demanded that the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) look into the situation and raised doubts about the “clean chit” given to Adani. “There is something clearly wrong in this. Why is the Prime Minister not forcing an investigation into this?” he asked. 

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), a member of the Congress’s alliance, and its leader Sharad Pawar rejected the Congress’s earlier call for a JPC investigation into Adani in favour of the Hindenburg report. The friendship between Pawar and Adani has been going strong for ten years.  Rahul Gandhi could put the Sharad Pawar faction of the NCP in an awkward position if he continues to question Adani and calls for a JPC investigation.  Rahul Gandhi responded that this was a serious issue for the nation and that there were no differences between INDIA’s allies.  Calls to Jayant Patil at the NCP went unanswered when ThePrint tried to get a response.