In a sign of the Congress’s increasing alienation over the Adani issue, the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) on Friday said Parliament’s time would be “better utilised” if it discussed issues of farmers and youth than which businessman had ties with which political leader. The Congress’s other INDIA bloc allies Trinamool Congress (TMC), Shiv Sena (UBT), and Samajwadi Party (SP) have so far kept away from the issue, with only the Congress protesting daily in Parliament. The TMC has openly said there were more important issues to discuss than the probe against industrialist Gautam Adani, who has been accused by US authorities of bribery. With the NCP (SP) joining the chorus, the grand old party is likely to feel greater pressure to move on. Participating in the debate on the 75 years of adoption of the Constitution on Friday in the Lok Sabha, the NCP (SP) MP from Shirur, Amol Kolhe, said, “The Constitution has given Parliament the principal position in the constitutional system. Unfortunately, many times we experience it has been converted into a political battlefield. Parliament is adjourned many times due to personal remarks. We should be more concerned about whether the voices of our farmers and youth are raised here or not than with what relationship a political leader has with a corporate, which leader has gone where in someone’s flight, or which foreign leader has made donations to a local leader. We want a discussion on issues of national interest, not political slogans. This is something that both the government and the Opposition should be cognisant of.” He also talked about how farmers should get the right price for their produce and youth must get better employment opportunities. Throughout the speech, NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule, Sharad Pawar’s daughter, who was sitting beside Kolhe, indicated her approval of what Kolhe was saying. Pawar’s previous defence of Adani The development comes a month after NCP chief and Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, Sharad Pawar’s nephew, said in an interview that “five years ago” Adani was part of the Maharashtra government formation talks between the BJP and the NCP leaders. This was when, in a surprise move in 2019, Ajit Pawar took oath as Maharashtra Deputy CM with Devendra Fadnavis as CM after the Shiv Sena walked out of the NDA following the alliance’s victory in Maharashtra elections. Addressing the issue of this “rebellion”, before he returned to the NCP, Ajit told The News Minute and Newslaundry in an interview before the Maharashtra Assembly polls, “Everybody knows where the meeting took place… Everyone was there. Let me tell you again. Amit Shah was there, Gautam Adani was there, Praful Patel was there, Devendra Fadnavis was there, Ajit Pawar was there, Pawar Saheb (Sharad Pawar) was there.” Sharad Pawar told the news websites that he agreed to the meeting with the BJP at the home of Adani because his colleagues in the NCP were worried about cases against them and believed there was “no escape” unless their party decided to “go” with the BJP. “I believe in dialogue,” he said. Ajit Pawar eventually walked away with a majority of the NCP MLAs in 2022 and joined the NDA to form the Mahayuti government in alliance with the BJP and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena. The alliance recently swept the polls in the state with over 230 seats. In April 2023, a few months after short-seller Hindenburg Research’s revelations rocked national politics and led to the revival of the demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe, Sharad Pawar broke ranks with the Congress and said the Adani Group was being “targeted” by unknown entities whose motives he questioned. In an interview to NDTV, a news channel in which the Adani Group is the majority shareholder, Pawar distanced himself from the Congress’s demand for a JPC probe and said he did not agree with the stalling of Parliament by the Congress-led Opposition on the matter. Congress allies in the INDIA bloc have expressed frustrations with the party’s focus on the Adani issue when they feel the government needs to be cornered on several other issues of public interest such as unemployment and inflation. TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee on Wednesday blamed both the BJP and the Congress for disrupting Parliament. Bannerjee was critical of the Congress being stuck on the Adani issue. “We have come here to do some business. Adani issue is not the only issue to raise. There are so many issues. We are not in a position to raise the issues. The Congress is stuck to Adani and the BJP is stuck to George Soros. Does it mean that all other issues will go away,” he told The Indian Express. Not just its INDIA bloc allies, a section of Congress leaders also believes that the House should resume normal business, saying it will give them an opportunity to hold the NDA government accountable — using the Question Hour and discussions — and raise important issues during the Zero Hour. A section of the party’s Lok Sabha MPs believe it is the party’s Rajya Sabha leadership that is calling the shots.
