TMC appeals to state governments to probe Adani Group

The Trinamool Congress on Thursday appealed to all state governments run by anti-BJP parties to order investigations into the State Bank of India (SBI) and Life Insurance Corporation (LIC)'s exposure to Adani Group investments and "to immediately stop the loot and plunder" by the Adani Group of companies. It said the CBI and Enforcement Directorate had abdicated their responsibility to probe the issue.

When asked why the TMC's Bengal government didn't take the lead and launch a probe, the party's Rajya Sabha leader Derek O'Brien said that the decision was for the West Bengal government to make. Most state governments, including Congress-run governments in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, the BRS-run Telangana government and the Bengal government, have sought Adani Group's investments in their states in recent years.

During the second leg of the Budget session of Parliament, the TMC has found itself isolated within the opposition ranks on the issue of demanding a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into Hindenburg Research's allegations of Adani Group's business practices. O'Brien said the only difference was that other opposition parties had demanded a JPC, while TMC has called for a Supreme Court-monitored probe since the last several JPC probes have yielded little result.

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On not joining the Opposition's march to the ED office on Wednesday, O'Brien said the "obsession" about opposition unity and who joined a march or didn't was insignificant compared to how Parliament has been turned into a "deep, dark chamber" by the BJP, which is not allowing the opposition to speak.

On the TMC's differences with the Congress, O'Brien said that the Congress in Tripura was friends with the Left, and in Bengal, they fought the TMC in the 2021 Assembly elections. "In Meghalaya, before the elections, they said how bad the Trinamool is. One of their seniormost leaders makes wild charges against us," he said, adding how the Left, the friends of the Congress in Tripura and Bengal, will become enemies in Kerala. "Trinamool is very clear that you can't have separate rules. With this situation and the kind of statements issued against the TMC daily in Bengal, we will not sign a letter written on the Congress letterhead. One cannot send us a letter at 10.30 pm," O'Brien said, alluding to the joint opposition statement.

The TMC said the BJP is trampling democracy as there is still no Deputy Speaker in the Lok Sabha. The PM has not answered a single question in Rajya Sabha or Lok Sabha since 2016. In the LS, only six short-duration discussions under rule 193 have been taken up compared. Most bills that are passed are brought in as ordinances and the scrutiny of bills by parliamentary committees has declined from UPA2's 60-65 per cent to 13 per cent.