Adani issue being raked up to ‘brighten’ Rahul’s political career: Rijiju

Jammu: Union Law minister Kiren Rijiju on Saturday attacked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, saying he has failed politically, and claimed the Adani issue is being “deliberately” raked up to “brighten his political career”.

He also accused the Congress of undermining the judiciary and said if the opposition party tries to “tear apart” the Constitution by attacking the judiciary, “we will not stay silent”.

“I am not going to make any comment on it (the Hindenburg-Adani issue) as the Supreme Court has already formed a committee and is looking into it. But I want to say that this all is being done to brighten the political career of Rahul Gandhi,” Rijiju told reporters on the sidelines of a function at the University of Jammu here. He said it is “deliberately” being made into an issue.

“The country is run by the Constitution and the law of the land. One man has failed politically and they are trying to highlight controversies, make an issue out of these to brighten his career,” the senior BJP leader said.

Rijiju was here to launch the first edition of the Constitution of India in the Dogri language.

“The Congress is in frustration and attacking the judiciary but the government will not stay silent,” Rijiju said when asked about a reported threat by a Congress leader to chop off the tongue of the judge in Surat who had convicted Gandhi in a 2019 criminal defamation case.

Gandhi’s conviction and two-year sentencing in the case over his “Modi surname” remark led to his disqualification as a member of Lok Sabha last month.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is the prime mover of the campaign against Adani and his alleged links with the Narendra Modi government, however, stepped up his attack on the industrialist, tweeting in Hindi: “They want to hide the truth, and hence they try to distract every day. The question remains the same, who does the Rs 20,000 crore in Adani’s benami companies belong to?”

Rahul posted the tweet with letters in Adani name standing in for, respectively, Ghulam (from a), Scindia (from d), Kiran (Reddy, from a), Himanta (Biswa Sarma, from n), and Anil (Antony from i). All five are former Congress leaders who have either joined the BJP or spoken positively about it.

Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole said what Pawar had said in an interview to NDTV, a channel in which the Adani Group is the majority stakeholder, was his “personal opinion” while Sanjay Raut of Congress ally Shiv Sena (UBT) said Pawar may have a different opinion on the Adani matter, but it “won’t affect Opposition unity”.

Among those who took a swipe at the Congress following Pawar’s interview was Maharashtra Chief Minister and head of the official Shiv Sena, Eknath Shinde. Speaking late on Friday evening, Shinde said: “The Congress started an agitation seeking explanation for ‘Rs 20,000 crore’ from the Adani Group. Even Uddhav Thackeray continuously spoke on this issue. Now, Pawar has commented and those who are protesting should heed these comments.”

Shinde added that the senior politician that he was, Pawar must have spoken “after much research”.

“It is the habit of the Congress (to issue threats against the judiciary). Even before the imposition of the Emergency in 1975, its leaders attacked the judiciary and they will make further attacks because of their frustration,” the Law minister further alleged. Rijiju said “we are followers of the Constitution and if they try to tear apart the Constitution, we will not stay silent”. Union Home minister Amit Shah has rightly said that a person linked to dynastic politics is in danger and not democracy, he said.

Attacking Gandhi over his recent remarks in the UK, Shah on Friday in Uttar Pradesh had said it is not democracy that is in danger, but “your family” and the idea of dynasty politics that is under threat.