Deep State behind Adani crisis?

There are several questions over the way the US investigators are going after Gautam Adani. An interesting point to be made is which are the countries that are cancelling the deals made with Adani. Adani seemed to have rubbed Bangladesh the wrong way, and the US is involved in Bangla politics. Kenya has cancelled the airport and energy deals. Sri Lanka is considering cancellation of the energy deals. Who influences the policies of these countries? This is an important issue to be studied. If one tries to join the dots, well, it appears that the issue is not a simple case of bribery. If it was a case of paying bribes by Adani Group to officials (in US parlance CMs and Ministers) and power discoms in Indian states, then what are the federal prosecutors probing and why is US so much concerned about it? Without podering over the larger picture, the LoP in LS, Rahul Gandhi, is going for Adani with all guns blazing. Now, the Parliament session will be laid waste with chaotic scenes of the opposition demanding the JPC. They already declared him guilty and want him arrested 

The White House has expressed confidence that the robust ties between India and the United States will enable both countries to address the ongoing crisis surrounding alleged bribery charges against billionaire Gautam Adani.

During a press briefing on Thursday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre addressed allegations, saying the Biden administration was aware of the bribery charges against Gautam Adani, The chairman of the Adani Group. The Adani Group has rejected the US allegations, labelling them as “baseless.” But by that time, the share value of Adani conglomerate dropped by 23 per cent.

This has given enough work for the social media wing of the Congress party which has gone hyper and is working overtime posting all kinds of comments even around 3.30 am. It is clear that the Congress and its allies have blown a bugle saying that they will now stall the winter session of the Parliament, and their entire narrative will be demanding ‘Fatafat Khatakhat’ arrest of Adani. This will help them to stall discussions on bills like Waqf Board and ‘one nation one election’ etc. They will insist on constituting a Joint Parliamentary Committee.

It will be sound and fury all the way but no one, I am sure, will address other important issues relating to these allegations. Why these allegations? Is there any bigger game behind it? What are the dots that need to be joined to get the truth? Well, this aspect our great opposition will never address. To be frank, the fact is that it is an open secret that in India, contracts are done with bribing officials and politicians. It is also a fact that there is no transparency in the contract system.

Let us keep these small issues aside for the present. What one needs to look at is why such issues keep cropping up just a few days ahead of the Parliament session and why they revolve around Adani only? Before the last session it was the Hindenburg report now indictment of Adani by US Department of Justice. It certainly is not coincidental.

This raises questions on whether the US is worried about the strength of India’s infrastructure machinery? There is a suspicion that the American Deep State has a role to play in this just before they go out and Trump takes over.

It is also felt that this could be ‘Tit for Tat,’ for what Adani did to Bangladesh as this development comes two weeks after Adani group had switched off half of its power supply to Bangladesh due to huge unpaid dues. Adani group has been supplying power to Bangladesh from its Jharkhand’s 1600 MW power plant. Though Bangladesh offered part payment Adani played hard ball and refused to accept it and threatened to stop the supply completely.

It is a known fact that the US has a role in Bangladesh politics. While Adani played hard ball, the Indian government rightly did not intervene since it was a deal between the Bangladesh government and the private power supplier.

Adani group’s Bangladesh power is supplied from Jharkhand’s 1,600 MW power plant. The cost of power is $0.1008 per unit or Tk12 per unit, a Bangladesh Power Development Board official was quoted as saying in the report. This rate is 27 per cent higher than the rate of India’s other private producers and as much as 63 per cent more than the Indian state-owned plants.

The issue that needs to be investigated is what is the role of Deep State. It is being said that there are many Indian politicians including MPs who are associated with the American think tank which is funded by the Deep State. Another interesting point to be made is which are the countries which are cancelling the deals made with Adani. Kenya has cancelled the airport and energy deals. Sri Lanka is considering cancellation of the energy deals. Who influences the policies of these countries? This is an important issue to be studied. If one tries to join the dots, well it appears that the issue is not a simple case of bribery.

If it was a case of paying bribes by Adani Group to officials (in US parlance CMs and Ministers) and power discoms in Indian states, then what are the federal prosecutors probing and why is US so much concerned about it? Is it because India has been expanding its high solar power capacity to Southeast Asia and other parts?

I am sure the ‘Fatafat Khatakat’ team will conveniently ignore such serious issues and will gun for arrest of Adani.

While gunning for the arrest of Adani, will Rahul Gandhi also demand for a thorough probe into all the individuals linked to these charges of corruption? He simply said action should be taken against anyone involved.

That is a general statement. Will he specifically demand probe into the deal between Adani and Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy who was the official number 1 and is named in this case? Will he ask for probe into the deal between DMK government in Tamil Nadu and Adani Group since they are part of bloc INDIA? Will he demand probe into the previous Congress regime deals in Chhattisgarh and former BJD government deals in Odisha? All these political dispensations were close to Congress. The deals which America indicts took place between July 2021 and February 2022.

While it is necessary to discuss and debate this issue in depth in Parliament to find out what is the truth, Rahul demanded JPC, and the Parliament will begin and end on this demand without deliberating anything.

It would have been much better if the Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and partners of INDIA bloc would have demanded a discussion before asking for JPC. That would have given them a chance to put forward all the evidence they have to expose the alleged nexus between Adani and

Prime Minister Narendra Modi as Rahul repeatedly alleges. This could have been a golden opportunity to put the government on mat which the Congress appears to be losing. On the other hand, the BJP could rake up issues linked with Robert Vadra. Some BJP leaders have already issued statements on these lines.

Such issues should not end with sound and fury. Why not take a leaf out of Bofors deal? The then government led by Rajiv Gandhi first denied all allegations of bribes. But, when the opposition came up with evidence and countered the government, the government had to go out of power. Hopefully, the Congress does not indulge in yet another self-goal.