NCP chief Sharad Pawar has said that there is “no need” of a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the Adani issue since the Supreme Court-appointed committee is examining the relevant issues and that it seems the Adani group was “targeted” in the Hindenburg Research report.
Sharad Pawar in an interview said “….Someone gave a statement, and it created uproar in the country. Such statements were given earlier too, which created ruckus. But the importance given to the issue this time was out of proportion. There was a need to think about who raised the issue (gave report). We had not heard the name who gave the statement. What is the background? When such issues are raised, they create uproar in the country, the cost is borne ….how it impacts the economy. We can’t ignore such things, and it seems (it) was targeted”.
NCP chief’s remarks are at variance with those of Congress, which has insisted on a JPC probe into the Hindenburg-Adani row. Some other opposition parties have also supported the demand for a JPC probe.
The second half of the budget session saw continuous disruptions over JPC demand for a probe into the Hindenburg-Adani row.
Sharad Pawar also said that, he did not agree with Rahul Gandhi’s “Adani-Ambani” strategy of targeting large corporations. He said, referring to the “Tata-Birla” narrative of the past, that it was completely meaningless.
“This has been happening in this country for many years. I remember many years ago that when we came into politics if we had to speak against the government, we used to speak against Tata-Birla. Who was the target? Tata-Birla. When we understood the contribution of Tata, we used to wonder why we kept on saying Tata Birla. But one had to target someone so we used to target Tata-Birla. Today the name of Tata-Birla is not at the forefront, different Tata-Birla has come before the government. So these days if you have to attack the government, the name of Ambani and Adani is taken”, Sharad Pawar said.
“The question is, that the people you are targeting, if they have done something wrong, or misused their powers, then in a democracy, you have a right to speak against them 100 per cent, but to attack without anything meaningful, this I cannot understand,” Pawar continued.
“Today, Ambani has contributed to the petrochemical sector, does the country not need it? In the field of electricity, Adani has contributed. Does the country not need electricity? These are people who take up such responsibility and work for the name of the country. If they have done wrong, you attack, but they have created this infrastructure, to criticise them does not feel right to me,” he said
Pawar further added that, “There can be different viewpoints and criticism, one has the right to speak strongly about the policies of the government, but a discussion should take place. A discussion and dialogue are very important in any democracy, if you ignore discussion and dialogue the system will fall into danger, it will just perish.”
Uddhav Thackeray slams Rahul Gandhi for ‘not Savarkar’ remark
Earlier, last month, Uddhav Thackeray, the head of the Shiv Sena (UBT), pleaded with Rahul Gandhi, asking him to not get ‘provoked’ and insult Veer Savarkar as their first priority was to ‘save democracy’.
It is to benoted that Thackeray’s party, UBT and Sharad Pawar’s NCP is in coalition with Congress in Maharashtra.
“I want to openly tell Rahul Gandhi that Savarkar is a God-like figure for us and we will not tolerate his insult…. We are together in the fight to save democracy. But do not make statements or take steps that will create fissures (between the Sena (UBT) and the Congress)”, Uddhav Thackeray said.
He emphasised Veer Savarkar’s sacrifice and involvement in the freedom fight, saying that what Savarkar underwent was unfathomable. “Savarkar suffered unimaginable torture in the Andaman cellular jail for 14 years. We can only read the sufferings. It is a form of sacrifice. We will not tolerate the insult of Savarkar.
