Adani row: TMC MP Mahua Moitra hits out at govt, says ‘We’ve all been fooled’

Without naming Adani, Moitra, while participating in the debate on the ‘Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address’ in Lok Sabha said that a famous person whose name starts with ‘A’ and ends with ‘I’ and is not Advani, who stinks of crony capitalism, had duped everyone, reported PTI.

As she concluded her speech, there was a turmoil in the Lok Sabha between Trinamool Congress (TMC) and BJP members. The Chair objected and urged Moitra to avoid cuss words, while, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi asked the TMC MP to apologise out of morality.

Meanwhile, Moitra sought an enquiry be ordered against the activities of the Adani group.

Quoting from President Droupadi Murmu’s address, Moitra said, “Every word I utter is going to be an oblation and offering a truth into my ‘maha yagna’ of nation building.”

ALSO READ: Rahul leads opposition charge against govt on Adani fortunes

“I want to start off by saying as an ex-investment banker, I want companies to thrive. But I want honest, hardworking Indian companies to strive and not trapeze artists. As an MP colleague of mine likes to say the Chair always asked me not to get angry. I will not be angry for what I have to say. I will only say that we’ve all been fooled,” she said.

She even referred Adani group statement in which the latter said that short-seller Hindenburg’s report was a calculated attack on India. “The pride of India is not the wealth of one individual, pride of India lies in the robustness of its institutional structures,” she said.

Giving the examples of Amazon and Microsoft, she mentioned that the way company ‘A’ was trading was absolutely outrageous. “This man has been allowed to use LIC, SBI to get money as and when he likes,” she said.

“India is on its way to becoming the third largest economy in the world. Don’t let him smear your time in government, with a stink of crony capitalism. Please immediately order a full complete and thorough investigation into all matters…Our country’s reputation is at risk,” Moitra said.

Apart from this, Moitra alleged that the Parliament is not like the previous times where greatest debates took place. “We cannot say China, we cannot say Pegasus, we can not say BBC, we cannot say Morbi, we cannot say Rafael, and sometimes we cannot even say Modi ji…,” she said.

Ever since the Hindenburg Research came out on Adani, and the Budget session began, the opposition has been demanding a joint parliamentary committee probe or a Supreme Court-monitored investigation into the allegations of fraud and manipulation on Adani Group made by the US-based short seller.

With PTI inputs.