Savings of LIC's 30 crore policyholders 'systematically misused' to benefit Adani: Congress
New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Saturday alleged that the savings of Life Insurance Corporation's 30 crore policyholders were “systematically misused” to benefit the Adani Group and demanded that Parliament's Public Accounts Committee investigate how LIC was “forced” to make investments in the conglomerate.
There was no immediate response from the Adani Group or the government on the Congress' allegations.
Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said disturbing revelations have just emerged in the media about how the "Modani joint venture systematically misused the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and the savings of its 30 crore policyholders".
"Internal documents reveal that Indian officials drafted and pushed through a proposal to invest about Rs 33,000 crores of LIC funds in various Adani Group companies in May 2025," he said.
The reported goals were to "signal confidence in the Adani Group" and to "encourage participation from other investors", he said in a statement.
"The question arises: under whose pressure did the officials of the Ministry of Finance and NITI Aayog decide that their job was to bail out a private company facing funding difficulties due to serious allegations of criminality? Is this not a textbook case of 'mobile phone banking'?" Ramesh said.
The Congress leader said the costs of "throwing public money at crony firms" became clear when LIC suffered "a staggering Rs 7,850 crore loss" in just four hours of trading on September 21, 2024, following the indictment of Gautam Adani and seven of his associates in the United States.
"Adani has been accused of orchestrating a Rs 2,000 crore bribery scheme to secure high-priced solar power contracts in India. The Modi government has refused, for nearly a year, to serve a US SEC summons to the prime minister's most favoured business conglomerate," Ramesh said.
The Congress has been persistent in its attack on the government since the Adani Group stocks took a beating on the bourses in the wake of US-based short-selling firm, Hindenburg Research, making a litany of allegations.
The Adani Group has dismissed all charges made by the Congress and others as lies, saying it complies with all laws and disclosure requirements.
Ramesh further claimed, "The Modani MegaScam is very wide-ranging. For instance, it encompasses: The misuse of agencies such as the ED, CBI, and Income Tax Department to force other private companies to sell their assets to the Adani Group."
He also alleged that there was "rigged privatisation" of critical infrastructure assets such as airports and ports for the benefit of the Adani Group alone.
Ramesh pointed to alleged misuse of diplomatic resources to funnel contracts to the Adani Group in various countries, especially in India's neighbourhood.
He said the scam also encompasses the import of "over-invoiced coal by close Adani associates Nasser Ali Shaban Ahli and Chang Chung-Ling" using a money-laundering network of shell companies, which contributed to sharp increases in the prices of electricity drawn from Adani power stations in Gujarat.
Ramesh also pointed to pre-election electricity supply agreements at abnormally high prices in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra and the recent alleged allocation of land at Rs 1 per acre for a power plant in poll-bound Bihar.
"The entirety of this Modani MegaScam can only be investigated by a Joint Parliamentary Committee of Parliament that the INC has been demanding for almost three years - ever since we published our 100-question series Hum Adani Ke Hain Kaun (HAHK).
"As a first step, now at least Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) should fully investigate how LIC was literally forced to make investments in the Adani Group," Ramesh said.
That will be well within its powers, he added.
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NEET student hangs self in Rajasthan's Sikar
Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
