On Kejriwal's ‘Adani not Modi's friend’ remark, BJP says ‘frustration that his…'
Kejriwal launched a no-holds-barred attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, levelling allegations of corruption against him in reference to the raging Adani issue.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday accused Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal of giving “cover fire” to the Congress party after the AAP leader claimed that billionaire Gautam Adani was “just a fund manager of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.” BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra said that Kejriwal was targeting Modi out of frustration as brakes have been applied to the "wheels of corruption" of his government.
Kejriwal launched a no-holds-barred attack on the prime minister, alleging that Modi was helping the industrialist stay afloat despite his firms facing serious stock manipulation allegations. He was participating in a debate on a resolution moved in the Delhi assembly demanding a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into the allegations against the Adani group.
“Despite the Hindenburg report and all-round criticism, PM Modi is saving Adani. In politics, perception is important, but Narendra Modi is not worried. SBI (State Bank of India) and Provident Fund Organisation, are being told to help him (Adani),” Kejriwal said amid strong objections from BJP lawmakers.
Stepping up the attack, he alleged, “Adani was not a friend of Narendra Modi but a fund manager. Adani is only a front; just the manager who manages all the money. The money is actually not Adani’s, it is Modi’s.”
Hitting back, Patra told PTI, "So far as Kejriwal's statement about the prime minister on the floor of the House today is concerned, it was sheer representation of his great deal of frustration.
"The frustration that his corrupt ministers are inside jail and that brakes have been put on the wheels of corruption of the Delhi government by the prime minister and the law of this country," he charged.
The BJP spokesperson said the chief minister "appeared to be giving cover fire to the Congress party and their corrupt regime."
"Kejriwal said the regime of the BJP is more disturbing than that of the Congress party. It only means that he was speaking on behalf of the Congress and covering for it," he charged.
(With PTI inputs)