Mahua Moitra’s sharp attack on Pawar

Gautam Adani reported met NCP chief Sharad Pawar at the latter’s Silver Oak residence in Mumbai on Thursday morning.

Amid reports of  Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar meeting Gautam Adani at his residence in Mumbai, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra on Thursday said no politician should engage with the industrialist. Mahua Moitra, who has been aggressive on the Adani issue, claimed that the business tycoon tried to contact her and a few others through his “friends/ wheeler-dealers” but “couldn’t find the door”.

The TMC MP said she has nothing to discuss with Adani on a one-on-one basis, adding that “no politician should engage” with him until the government takes action, apparently on the damaging allegations made by US short seller Hindenburg Research against the conglomerate.

She also launched a sharp attack on Sharad Pawar with a famous Hindi proverb, and said she has “no fear in taking on Great Marathas.”

“Can only hope they have good sense to put country before old relationships,” she wrote. “And no, my tweet is not anti-opposition unity. Rather it is pro-public interest.”

Mahua Moitra’s tweet came hours after Adani reportedly met Pawar at the latter’s Silver Oak residence in south Mumbai amid the Opposition’s demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the Adani-Hindenburg issue. The meeting lasted for nearly two hours, reported PTI citing people familiar with the matter.

Pawar’s stand on the Adani issue caused rumblings in the Opposition ranks amid their attempt to unite ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election. Pawar took a position at variance from senior ally Congress and said he favoured a Supreme Court committee to probe allegations against the Adani group instead of a JPC. The NCP supremo opined that the ruling BJP would have a majority in the JPC based on numerical strength in Parliament and this would lead to doubts on such a probe.

While the NCP chief had downplayed the allegations of fraud and stock manipulation against the Gautam Adani-led Adani Group, he later said that his party will not oppose the demand for a probe by a joint parliamentary committee for the sake of unity.