Congress cites escape of Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya, demands seizure of Gautam Adani's passport
Mumbai, Feb 6: The Congress on Monday demanded the Centre seize the passport of Gautam Adani, who is battling allegations of stock manipulation, to prevent him from escaping the country as the opposition party held protests against Adani outside offices of LIC and SBI.
A Mumbai Congress leader said businessmen Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi could escape the country because the BJP government didn't confiscate their passports in time.
The Congress staged demonstrations outside the offices of the State Bank of India (SBI) and the Life Insurance Corporation as part of the party's nationwide protests over the Adani issue.
"The Centre should confiscate the passport of Gautam Adani so that he would not be able to escape the country. When scams by Harshad Mehta or Ketan Paresh were unearthed, the then Union government led by Congress had confiscated their passports preventing Mehta and Parekh from flying out of India," Mumbai Congress chief Bhai Jagtap told reporters.
He said industrialists Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi, who are facing allegations of loan default and banking fraud, managed to run away from the country because their passports were not seized by the BJP government in time.
Adani Group stocks have taken a beating on the bourses after the US short-seller Hindenburg Research made a litany of allegations last fortnight in its report, including fraudulent transactions and share price manipulation at the Gautam Adani-led group, which has denied the charges.
The Congress party has organised nationwide agitations outside the offices of SBI and LIC claiming both the public sector institutions were forced by the government to increase their exposure in various Adani group companies.
"Today, we protested outside the offices of SBI and LIC in Mumbai. We will hold similar protests outside the offices of the Bombay Stock Exchange, National Stock Exchange, and the Securities and Exchange Board of India in the next 15 days," Jagtap added.
Similar protests were held in Pune.
Speaking on the occasion, Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole cited the Hindenburg Research report to say Rahul Gandhi stands vindicated "as it is proved that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is running the government for a handful of industrialists".
"Our leader Rahul Gandhi has been talking constantly that the Prime Minister is running this government for his friends and a handful of industrialists. Rahul proved right as per the Hindenburg report," he said.
Patole alleged the Adani Group obtained loans from LIC and other banks by furnishing bogus documents.
"Today, the common people (who have their money invested into LIC) are scared about the future of their investment," the Congress leader said and demanded PM Modi give a full "hisab" or account of (the LIC's investment exposure to Adani group) to the people.
"Narendra Modi is shielding his friends which means the work of siphoning off the money of common people is going on," he alleged.
Besides Patole, former chief ministers Ashok Chavan and Sushilkumar Shinde, and other local leaders were present during the protests.
The Congress has stepped up the offensive against the government over the Adani-Hindenburg issue and is seeking a discussion in Parliament.
The party has also demanded an impartial investigation under the supervision of the Supreme Court or a joint parliamentary committee to probe the charges raised in the Hindenburg report against the Adani Group.
The Congress is alleging that the issue involves crores of rupees of common people invested in the Adani Group, whose shares have seen a beating on the stock markets ever since the allegations of "financial malpractices and stock manipulation" came out in the Hindenburd research report.
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
