Sharad Pawar’s stand on Adani will not affect opposition unity: Sanjay Raut

Shiv Sena (UBT) Sanjay Raut said Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar not favouring formation of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe allegations against the Adani group will not lead to cracks in opposition unity.

Sanjay Raut said Pawar has not given a clean chit but expressed his views of options on how to carry out the probe.  Pawar came out in support of the Adani Group and criticised the narrative around Hindenburg Research’s report on the conglomerate.

Raut added the opposition is firm on its demand for a JPC probe. Be it (West Bengal chief minister) Mamata Banerjee or NCP, there could be different opinions about Adani, but that will not lead to cracks in (opposition) unity in Maharashtra or in the country, asserted Raut, a key aide of former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray.

Earlier in the day, Pawar had said he favoured a Supreme Court committee to probe allegations against the Adani group, since the ruling party would have a majority in the JPC based on numerical strength in Parliament and this would lead to doubts on such a probe.

United States-based Hindenburg Research has alleged stock manipulation and accounting fraud in firms of billionaire Gautam Adani, resulting in strident protests by the Congress, led by Rahul Gandhi, and others against the Narendra Modi government.