New Delhi, Oct 28: Stepping up his attack over conflicts of interest allegations against SEBI chief Madhabi Buch, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday alleged it is clear that Buch is "protecting Adani's money, his valuation and reputation", and asked who is protecting her and why.

Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, also said the current regime is no longer merely encouraging monopolies but actively concentrating the nation's wealth in the hands of a few.

He made the remarks in his post along with a video featuring him and Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera in which they talk about the alleged conflicts of interest of SEBI chief Buch.

"Institutional collapse has now given way to a more dangerous form of cronyism -- Adani Bachao. The current regime is no longer merely encouraging monopolies, it's actively concentrating the nation's wealth in the hands of a few," Gandhi said.

The Madhabi Buch scandal goes deeper than initially imagined, he said, adding that it may be that Buch, entrusted with safeguarding retail investors, has been manipulating the system to "protect" Adani's interests and his inflated valuations.

Those entrusted with protecting common Indians and their investments have abrogated their responsibilities and are indulging in wide scale corruption and malpractice, he alleged.

The Congress has consistently raised these issues, is investigating these scams, and exposing the truth to the public, Gandhi said.

In the video, Khera is seen explaining to Gandhi the various conflicts of interest allegations against Buch and how there were powers behind her that were at work, an apparent reference to the Adani Group.

Sharing the video, the party said the role of SEBI chairperson is to maintain the security of the stock market and ensure investments of common Indians are not at risk. However, when the chairperson is involved in manipulating the market to benefit a single player - like the Adani Group - then everyone's money is at risk, it said.

"That is what is happening with the Madhabi Buch Scandal. She has been placed in this position by PM Modi and HM Amit Shah to give Adani a clean chit in allegations of stock manipulation," it said.

In a post in Hindi on X, Gandhi said, "What was SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Buch taking money from ICICI for?" How could she hold shares in unlisted companies while being the SEBI Chairperson and why did that company receive crores of rupees from Startup India, he asked.

"What is the fear of the government not taking action on this? It is clear that Buch is protecting Adani's money, his valuation and reputation, but who is protecting Buch and why?" Gandhi said.

"The agencies did not investigate, the media did not question, the government did not take action - we have investigated, are also questioning and action will also be taken when the time comes!" the former Congress chief said.

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



Bareilly (UP), Nov 24: Three people died when their car fell into the Ramganga river from a partially constructed bridge here on Sunday, police said, adding that they suspect the driver was misled by its navigation system into taking the unsafe route.

The accident occurred around 10 am on the Khalpur-Dataganj road when the victims were travelling from Bareilly to Dataganj in the Badaun district, they said.

"Earlier this year, floods had caused the front portion of the bridge to collapse into the river, but this change had not been updated in the system," Circle Officer Ashutosh Shivam said.

The driver was using a navigation system and did not realise that the bridge was unsafe, driving the car off the damaged section, the police said.

There were no safety barriers or warning signs on the approach to the damaged bridge, leading to the fatal accident, Shivam said.

Upon receiving information, police teams from Faridpur, Bareilly and Dataganj police station rushed to the spot. They recovered the vehicle and the bodies from the river, Shivam added.

The circle officer said that bodies had been sent for post-mortem. Further investigation into the matter is underway.