Gautam Adani made more than Rs 1600 crore every day to double his wealth within the past year to become India’s wealthiest tycoon and the world’s second richest man at one point. Adani’s rise has often been attributed to his proximity to Prime Minister Narendra Modi by the opposition, targeting the government over crony capitalism. Weeks after Rahul Gandhi’s jibe against Adani who he accuses of monopolising businesses, a CM from his own party, Ashok Gehlot was seen cosying up to the industrialist.
The Rajasthan Chief Minister hosted Gautam Adani among other entrepreneurs for the Invest Rajasthan Summit. The two-day event will be attended by more than 4000 visitors from across the globe, including representatives of top corporations. Apart from Adani, Vedanta Chairman Anil Agarwal, who recently picked Gujarat over Maharashtra for his semiconductor factory in collaboration with Foxconn, was also seen at the summit.
Rahul Gandhi’s double speak or revolt?
Considering Rahul Gandhi’s criticism of Adani, BJP supporters were quick to call out Congress’ hypocrisy and BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya also hinted that a revolt is brewing in Gandhi’s ranks.
The insinuations about rebellion come weeks after pro-Gehlot MLAs in Rajasthan resigned after the leader joined the race to become Congress President and his deputy Sachin Pilot was slated to become CM. Malviya also suggested that Gandhi should now stop using Adani and Ambani, both considered close to PM Modi, to target the government.
Big investments in store for Rajasthan
In June this year, BJP had also slammed Congress after Gehlot allotted more than 2000 hectares of land to Adani for setting up a 1000 MW solar power project. In the same month, Adani had pledged investments worth more than Rs 68,000 crore in Rajasthan, while Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries had promised to invest Rs 1 lakh crore in the state.
Among highlights of the event, Ashok Gehlot raised eyebrows when he referred to Adani as 'Gautam Bhai', while congratulating him for his rise among the world's richest.
Among other opposition leaders, Adani has also met Mamata Banerjee and Uddhav Thackeray in the past. On the other hand, Adani’s bid to takeover NDTV has raised concerns about media freedom in India.
