‘Adani forgot that the US is not ruled by Modi’: Political stagnation sets in after US files bribery charges against Gautam Adani and others

The political mudslinging, with opposition and ruling parties aiming a fresh salvo at each other, has led to bribery charges being leveled against billionaire Gautam Adani, who is already the focal point of the political narrative in the country. Adani and seven others, including his nephew Sagar Adani, are indicted in New York for their role in a $265 million bribery scheme.

While the opposition accused the ruling BJP of protecting Adani, the BJP emphasized that the bribe-taking states were run by the opposition.

“All the States mentioned here were under the rule of the Opposition at that time. So before you pontificate, respond to the bribes accepted by Congress and its allies. Moreover, an Indian Court could, on similarly legitimate grounds, accuse American firms of bribing US government officials and blocking access to Indian markets. Should we then allow the law to take its course and allow the company concerned to defend ourselves or become involved in the domestic politics of a foreign country?” said Amit Malviya, BJP’s National Information and Technology Department in-charge.

U.S. officials said Adani and other defendants agreed to pay bribes to Indian government officials to obtain contracts and develop India’s largest solar power project, which was expected to generate $2 billion in profits over 20 years.

“In addition to the bribery scheme, his collaborators, through Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani, Vineet Jaain and others, had offered and promised bribes of Rs 2,029 crore (approximately $265 million) to Indian government officials in return for causing the incident. State power distribution companies will be allowed to execute PSAs under the Generation Linked Project and this may benefit subsidiaries of the Indian Power Corporation and the US issuer,” the indictment states, adding that between July 2021 and February 2022, Odisha, Jammu and Kashmir, Tamil Nadu It was stated that the power distribution companies in the states of Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh were pointed out, Chhattisgarh was later controlled by the Congress, Odisha by the BJD, and Tamil Nadu by the DMK and Andhra Pradesh. It was governed by YSRCP and J&K was governed by the Centre.

Congress MP and Chief Communications Secretary Jairam Ramesh said: “All this is consistent with a long-standing record of fraud and criminality carried out with impunity under the apparent protection of the Prime Minister. The power to properly investigate Adani is vested only in the hands of Indian institutions, which are held by the BJP.” It shows how it was taken over and how decades of institutional progress were destroyed by greedy and power-hungry leaders.”

All India Trinamool Congress member Mahua Moitra accused SEBI and SEBI chief Madhabi Puri Buch of being ‘spineless’.

Here’s how people reacted to the bribery charges at Adani.

Adani Group faced immediate repercussions following a short-selling attack in February 2023 that led to a significant decline in the shares of listed companies. Shares saw a decline ranging from 10-20 percent, reflecting the impact of the attack on the conglomerate.

In a related development, Adani Green Energy has decided to cancel plans to raise $600 million through US dollar denominated bonds. Although the bond was priced, the company withdrew it following recent events.