Rahul after Adani, Gehlot share stage: Against monopolies, not corporates

He said Adani has given investment proposals to the tune of Rs 60,000 crore to Rajasthan and argued that the Congress government in the state has not given any “preferential treatment” to Adani or used its “political power” to help his business.

Rahul also said that he has no problem if Rajasthan gives “business” to Adani in the state through a “fair procedure” but will oppose it if the state government gives business to Adani in a “wrong manner.”

In Rajasthan, Gehlot said Rajasthan would welcome investment from any business house — be it Adani, Ambani or Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah.

From labelling the Narendra Modi government as a “suit boot ki sarkar” to one of “hum do, hamare do”, which is a veiled reference to business houses owned by Ambanis and Adani, Rahul has often accused the BJP regime of favouring select businessmen.

On Friday, hours after Gehlot had shared the stage with Adani, Rahul had said in a separate remark that “the second richest man in the world is close to the Prime Minister of India”. In August, he had said that “the Government is being run to protect the interests of four or five people and this dictatorship is being run in the interest of two or three big business people by two people.”

On Saturday, Rahul said, “Mr Adani has committed Rs 60,000 crore to Rajasthan. No Chief Minister can refuse such an offer. My contention is in the use of political power to help certain chosen businesses. My opposition is to two or three or four large businesses being helped politically to monopolise every single business.”

He said: “The Rajasthan government has not used political power to help Mr Adani in Rajasthan. The day they do that I will be standing in opposition.”

In Rajasthan, asked about the BJP raising his presence with Adani at the summit, Gehlot said, “It will cost the BJP dearly… The more the BJP opposes, the more it will go against them. The youth will say that the facilities that I am getting, the job opportunities that I am getting…why are you creating a problem? This is not a private programme. It is an investment summit. The 3,000 people who had come…are they from the Congress? They can be from the Congress or the BJP. So why are they trying to create hurdles?”

The CM said, “Be it Gautam Adani or any other Adani, be it Ambani or Adani or Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah…We will welcome everyone from the industry. We want jobs and investment.”

On Friday, at the inaugural session of the two-day investors’ summit in Jaipur, Adani had promised investments of more than Rs 65,000 crore over the next five-seven years in Rajasthan.