SURPRISING !

THE hostile stance of Congress leader Mr. Rahul Gandhi as regards the so-called unholy connect of Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi with industrial tycoon Mr. Gautam Adani and his business group is truly surprising, to say the least. He appears to believe that there is something terribly sinister between the Prime Minister and the industry captain that is hurting India’s core economic interest. This impression of Mr. Rahul Gandhi is fully contrary to the general impression of common Indian people as well as senior and sincere observers of the economic scene. Yet, to everybody’s surprise, Mr. Rahul Gandhi has been insisting upon asking for a detailed investigation into the nexus between the Prime Minister and the industrialist. He appears to have pulled a veil of bias over his eyes to keep asking for a probe -- this time by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), a demand he raised at a press conference on the sidelines of the much-publicised Mumbai conference of the I.N.D.I.A. grouping. No matter Mr. Rahul Gandhi’s personal belief -- or his political strategy -- everybody else in India appears to be sure that the demand is meaningless and baseless. What surprises people is Mr. Rahul Gandhi’s raw belief that he absolutely right in making the demand. The common people often wonder why the Congress leader is insisting upon the demand, raising the issue every now and then at every possible forum.

 

Does not Mr. Rahul Gandhi realise that whatever he is doing in this regard is only reducing his clout with the voters? -- they ask. To this question, many in the Congress party seem to have no answer. They are giving sheepish looks when confronted with such a question. Enough evidence is available from the history of the past 3-4 decades that Mr. Gautam Adani, like other industrialists, has made many of his projects possible only with a nod from the Government of the day. This is a common practice all over the world. In India, Mr. Gautam Adani is known to have had truck with the Congress party Government as well from time to time and has introduced many successful projects that helped the economy and generated a lot of employment. It is not without reason that Mr. Gautam Adani is a much-respected Indian industrialist with a global presence. All these realities, however, Mr. Rahul Gandhi and his close associates seem to ignore all the time. Many people must have advised Mr. Rahul Gandhi to desist from such an anti-Adani stance. Yet, the adamant man has refused to listen to the wise counsel. Much to the contrary, he has made the Adani issue a main point on his political agenda and has kept raising the issue at every possible opportunity -- in Parliament and outside.

 

He appears determined to ignore totally not just the public sentiment but also the economic reality of the Adani Group’s contribution to the country. Of course, Mr. Rahul Gandhi is doing that at his own peril -- and this is the surprising part of the affairs, that Mr. Gandhi does not realise the damage he is inflicting upon his own cause. The common people, therefore, ask again and again why Mr. Rahul Gandhi does not see the ground reality and why he does not listen to the wise counsel of his well wishers that the party would harm its own interests if it pushed the anti-Modi-Adani prejudice beyond a limit. No one would object to whatever stand Mr. Rahul Gandhi or his Congress party may or may not take as regards an issue. But that does not stop the larger society to wonder if the party and its leader do not see good sense in an issue and that the manner in which he looks at the Adani affair is bound to inflict a deep wound on his own cause.