After Savarkar row, Congress isolated in MVA over Adani issue

Congress finds itself the odd man out yet again after NCP president Sharad Pawar's Adani statement.

Within a month, the three-party coalition of Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is being pulled in two different directions for the second time and now, it is over inquiry into the issue of billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani.

Mumbai, India - February 11, 2023: Mumbai Youth Congress workers under the leadership of party MLA Zeeshan Siddique protest against the Modi government over Gautam Adani row, outside Mumbai Regional Congress Commitee (MRCC) Office, Azad Maidan, Fort, in February. (Bhushan Koyande/HT Photo)

This comes close on the heels of similar differences over V D Savarkar issue, when Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) were on one side and Congress stood isolated on the other.

Congress finds itself the odd man out yet again after NCP president Sharad Pawar on Friday, in an interview to a news channel, said that Hindenberg Research, with its rep.ort on Adani Group, was seemingly targetting an individual industrial group of the country.

He had also expressed his reservations about setting up Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) over the Adani issue, and said that the Supreme Court-appointed committee will be more useful.

The Thackeray faction has seconded Pawar but with a clarification that the NCP chief has not given a clean chit to Adani.

On the other hand, Congress leader Ashok Chavan has expressed displeasure over Pawar’s comment on JPC and Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president Nana Patole has said that irrespective of Pawar’s opinion, the Adani issue should be probed by JPC only.

Meanwhile on Saturday, Pawar clarified that he is not opposing a JPC. “I am not opposing a JPC. Infact, I was also a chairperson of JPC in the past. The structure of JCP has limitations. JPC is a majority-based committee and that’s why I think a Supreme Court committee would be more useful and effective,” said Pawar.

Seconding Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut said that industrialists are important for nation-building. “In the past, many industrialists such as Tata, Birla and Bajaj have contributed to nation-building. Today also, industrialists are important for nation-building. There is nothing new in the views expressed by Sharad Pawar. BJP will dominate JPC, so he thinks the SC committee would be more useful,” said Raut.

However, in what can be interpreted as a balancing act, Raut said, “Pawar has not given a clean chit to the Adani Group. He is just supporting the other option for the probe. We as a party stand by the opposition and support any probe, which is more effective.”

He also clarified that the unity of MVA will not be impacted by any difference of opinion.

After the near-similar opinions from NCP and Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress is seen as being isolated over Adani issue and this comes close on the heels of the difference that arose in the MVA over Savarkar issue recently. A couple of weeks back, Uddhav Thackeray warned Congress that anti-Savarkar statements will not be tolerated. His stern message came after Rahul Gandhi’s remarks that he was not a Savarkar to apologise in a case against him.

Then, Pawar had supported Thackeray and discussed the issue with the Congress high command and convinced them not to speak on Savarkar. Now, the Thackeray faction has supported Pawar indirectly. All the party leaders are claiming that there will be no impact of this difference of opinions on MVA but it may affect the trust factor in the alliance.

Congress leader and former chief minister Ashok Chavan expressed displeasure saying that it was Pawar’s personal opinion.

“I think this is his personal opinion. I do not think that his statement will make any difference to the unity of the opposition in the 2024 election. But I would only say that if the opposition takes a decision on any issue unitedly, then all opposition parties and their leaders should show solidarity with that,” said Chavan.

Insisting on a JPC probe in the issue, Patole said, “Why is PM Narendra Modi still silent on the Adani scam? Where did the ₹20,000 crores via shell companies come into the Adani group? Even though NCP president Sharad Pawar has a different opinion on the Adani scam, Congress is firm on its demand for a JPC probe.”

Meanwhile, talking about the perception that Pawar keeps contradicting Congress and helping BJP, Pratap Asbe, political analyst said, “Congress should build consensus in a coalition before declaring any stand on a particular issue. Sharad Pawar never worries about what people think about him, and he speaks what he thinks is the correct stand on an issue.”