Adani-Hindenburg row: Kharge huddles with Opposition leaders to corner government
As many as 16 Opposition parties met at the office of Parliament's Leader of Opposition (LoP) Mallikarjun Kharge after he called an urgent meeting on Friday to jointly strategize for demanding accountability from the government on the risk to Indian investors. On Thursday, the Opposition demanded a parliamentary debate on the declining value of Adani Group's shares, following Hindenburg Research's allegations of fraud.
Why does this story matter?
US-based Hindenburg Research has accused Adani Group of unprecedented stock manipulation and accounting fraud, which is endangering people's investments. Following the Hindenburg report, the conglomerate's shares have fallen by over $100 billion. The share prices of government-owned Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) and State Bank of India (SBI), the corpora of public savings that have a stake in Adani's conglomerate, have also plunged significantly.
Opposition demanded JPC or CJI-appointed panel probe allegations
The Opposition chalked out a strategy as the Budget Session is underway in Parliament. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said their aim is to call for an independent investigation into the allegations, either by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) or a Chief Justice of India (CJI)-appointed panel, to save the public institutions "forced" by the Prime Minister to invest in the Adani Group.
RBI and SEBI yet to officially take cognizance
Yesterday's session was adjourned briefly after the Opposition interrupted the Question Hour demanding to suspend the regular operations of Parliament for discussion on the Adani matter. Notably, neither the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) nor the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the market watchdog, have taken cognizance of the allegations on record to reassure the citizens about the safety of their money.
Which parties attended the meeting
The meeting was attended by the MPs of the Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Samajwadi Party (SP), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), Shiv Sena, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Janata Dal-United, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), CPI, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), National Conference, Indian Union Muslim League, Kerala Congress (Jose Mani), Kerala Congress( Thomas) and Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP).
Shares of Adani Enterprises fell by over 20% on Friday
Adani slipped from third to 22nd position in Forbes' Real-Time Billionaires List today as the shares of the conglomerate's flagship firm Adani Enterprises fell by more than 20%, hitting multiple trading stops in the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). Yesterday, Adani Enterprises called off its Rs. 20,000 crore follow-on public offer (FPO) and said the money will be returned to investors.
