(MENAFN- AsiaNet News) congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday (October 18) stirred controversy as he raised allegations against billionaire Gautam Adani, accusing him of 'over-invoicing' coal imports and draining a staggering Rs 12,000 crore from the public. The Congress leader made these assertions during a press conference held in the national capital. He also questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's apparent silence on this contentious issue.
Citing a news report, Rahul Gandhi claimed that Adani purchases coal in Indonesia, but by the time it reaches India, its price doubles. Furthermore, he contended that rising electricity prices are burdening the common people, while Adani is siphoning off money from the most vulnerable sections of society.
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"Adani buys coal in Indonesia, and by the time the coal arrives in India, its price doubles. Our electricity prices are going up. He (Adani) takes money from the poorest people... This story would bring down any government. This is direct theft," Rahul Gandhi said.
This development follows a recent meeting of the Congress Central Election Committee at the AICC headquarters in Delhi, where the party is expected to release its first list of candidates for Rajasthan and the second lists for Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
Earlier, Rahul Gandhi approached the Bombay High Court to seek the quashing of a defamation complaint filed against him. This complaint was related to his remarks that allegedly linked the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to the 2017 murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh.
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In his petition, the Congress leader argued that the case against him should not be combined with the one filed against Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury. He emphasized that both he and Yechury made the statements in question on different occasions and belonged to two distinct parties with differing or even opposing ideologies.
Justice SV Kotwal has scheduled the hearing for December 5. Journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh, based in Bengaluru, was tragically murdered outside her home on September 5, 2017, allegedly by right-wing extremists, according to reports.
Reportedly, Dhrutiman Joshi, a lawyer, had filed a private complaint before a magistrate in 2017 against Rahul Gandhi, his mother, and fellow Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, and Yechury, seeking action against them for alleged defamation under sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code.
In 2019, the magistrate's court dismissed the case against Sonia Gandhi but issued notice to Rahul Gandhi and Yechury. Subsequently, both of them filed an application seeking to dismiss the complaint on the grounds that they should not be put on trial jointly. However, the magistrate's court rejected the application, leading Rahul Gandhi to approach the HC in August this year.
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