New Delhi: The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief's opinion on Gautam Adani and his objection against a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into PM Modi's ties with Adani have raised questions over the opposition's unity against the BJP government.
While opposition allies seemed to be struggling to show that Pawar's comments had no effect on their unity, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi doubled down on his attack against Adani by raising the alleged link between Adani and PM Modi.
Taking to Twitter, Rahul Gandhi’s Hindi tweet roughly read “They attempt to divert attention every day in order to conceal the truth. The question that persists is, who is the owner of the Rs 20,000 crore held in Adani's benami companies?”
Rahul used the letters in Adani's name to stand for the first letter of five former Congress leaders' names who have either joined the BJP or spoken positively about it. The letters used were a (for Ghulam), d (for Scindia), a (for Kiran Reddy), n (for Himanta Biswa Sarma), and i (for Anil Antony).
Nana Patole, the Maharashtra Congress chief, stated that Pawar's comments in an interview with NDTV, a channel with the Adani Group as a majority stakeholder, were his "personal opinion." Meanwhile, Sanjay Raut of the Shiv Sena, a Congress ally, commented that while Pawar may have a different opinion on the Adani matter, it would not harm opposition unity.
Meanwhile, NCP chief Pawar remained on his stand about the remark he made during the NDTV interview, playing down the situation he said it is obvious to have differences of opinion among different parties that come together, which is unlikely to affect the unity.
Pawar is said to have stated that when several parties come together, it is natural to have different opinions. He provided an example of a similar situation occurring with the Savarkar issue, where he expressed his position that Congress should refrain from attacking Savarkar, and the issue was resolved. He suggested that discussions can take place where different opinions can be voiced.
In response to Pawar's interview on the NDTV, Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra laughed at the nerve of the Indian media and commented that the Adani-owned channel showcases his friends to justify him.
Her tweet read “Adani owned channel interviewing Adani’s friends to tell us how he is being targeted. Long live Indian Media — you truly are a rare species!”