Congress seeks FM Sitharaman's clarification on Adani issue, demands JPC probe

Senior Congress leader and former Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on Thursday said that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman should clarify the issues surrounding the Adani crisis. He also demanded that a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) be set up to investigate the allegations against Guatam Adani.

The Congress leader said the Central government should have ordered a probe into the company's dealings and questioned why it hadn't happened yet.

Shares of Adani Group companies have been crashing after a report by Hindenburg Research accused the conglomerate of stock manipulation, improper use of tax havens and money laundering.

Prithviraj Chavan also said the Opposition has not been allowed to raise the issue in Parliament.

Earlier in the day, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said the Opposition's notice to discuss the issue was rejected in Parliament. The Opposition had given the suspension of Business Notice in Parliament under Rule 267 to discuss the issue of investment by LIC, Public Sector Banks and financial institutions in Adani Group companies losing market value.

Prithviraj Chavan also criticised the Union Budget 2023-24 announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday, saying the budget of many important schemes has been reduced. "Last year, the



Central government had given a total of Rs 5.21 lakh crore as various grants. At the end of this year, the grant amount has been reduced by 28 percent to 3.74 lakh crores. These grants benefit farmers and low-income groups. But due to the huge reduction in the current expenditure, there will be a heavy burden on the people who are already suffering from inflation and recession," said Chavan.

He added that funding for schemes like the MNREGA which benefit farmers has been reduced by 30 per cent. The former Maharashtra Chief Minister also said subsidies on food grains and petroleum products have been reduced. "The poor people didn’t get anything in this Budget. The government wants people to give tax under the new tax regime. But people have not given a response to it," he added.

Prithviraj Chavan said, "The biggest announcement in the Budget was that the fiscal deficit itself would be reduced from 6.4 percent to 5.9 percent, which means half a percent of the country's total economy will be reduced. This means that expenditure will have to be reduced to that extent, or production will have to be increased to that extent.

"There is a lack of potential to increase production, so the Finance Minister has decided to cut expenditure in many places. So this reduction in expenditure will impact the unorganised sector and farmers," he added.