INDIA bloc meets ahead of Parl session, will raise Adani issue and demand JPC

Floor leaders of the opposition INDIA bloc met on Monday ahead of the start of Parliament's Winter Session and decided to raise the issue of alleged corruption in the Adani Group and demand a JPC on the matter.

The leaders of the opposition parties also took the decision to write to the speaker and demand that leaders of opposition in both Houses be invited to speak in the programme on Constitution Day on Tuesday. The letter would make the point that if the prime minister can speak, why not the LoPs, party sources said.

The floor leaders met at the Parliament House office of Congress president and LoP in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge.

Several opposition members, including Kharge, have given adjournment notices in both Houses of Parliament on the issue.

"As the Parliament session begins, the first step the government should take is to have a detailed discussion on the Adani saga which has the potential of tarnishing India's image at the global stage. This is what the INDIA bloc parties demand today, for the hard earned investments of crores of retail investors are at stake," Kharge said in a post in X after the meeting.

"We do not need monopolies and cartels to run this country. We need healthy market driven competition in the private sector, which facilitates equal opportunities, employment and equitable distribution of wealth, catering to the inherent entrepreneurial spirit of India," the Congress chief added.

Sources said the INDIA bloc leaders also took the decision to demand a joint parliamentary committee into issues surrounding the Adani Group.

Those who attended the meeting included the Congress' KC Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh, Nasir Hussain and Manickam Tagore as well as SP's Ramji Lal Suman, DMK's T. R. Baalu, Tiruchi Siva and Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, and NCPSP's Supriya Sule, AAP leader Raghav Chadha.

K. Radhakrishnan of the CPI(M) leader, Sandosh Kumar of the CPI leader and IUML leader E. T. Mohammed Basheer were there too.

RSP's N K Premachandran, Kerala Congress leader K. Francis George, RJD's Abhay Kumar Sinha, Dr. Faiyaz Ahmad, MDMK's Vaiko, CPI(ML)(L) leader Raja Ram Singh and BAP's Rajkumar Roat were also present during the meeting