FM slams Rahul for "baseless allegations" against PM on Adani issue, calls him "repeat offender"
Bengaluru, Apr 6: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday came down heavily on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for making baseless allegations against Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Adani issue, and described him as a "repeat offender" in levelling such charges.
Responding to questions at a press conference at the State BJP office here, she said, "If Rahul Gandhi really thinks that Adani has been given all these things (undue favours), it is not true."
"Let me also say he's now becoming a repeat offender in terms of putting baseless allegations against the Prime Minister. We saw that prior to the 2019 elections, now he's doing it again. He doesn't seem to learn any lessons from all these false allegations that he wants to level against the Prime Minister."
Sitharaman also sought to know why Gandhi did not raise a voice against the "undue favour" to Adani by the Kerala government and a solar power project to the company in Rajasthan.
"It was the (then) Congress government (in Kerala), which gave on a platter Vizhinjam Port to Adani. It was not given on the basis of any tender. Now this is not this (Congress) government, but the CPM government. But, what stopped him from asking and demanding that Kerala cancel that order?" Sitharaman asked.
The "entire solar power project" has been given to Adani in (Congress-ruled) Rajasthan. "What stops Rahul Gandhi?"
Noting that Adani got projects in Chhattisgarh also, she said crony capitalism was happening in Congress governments.
"I challenged him (Rahul Gandhi) to tear the orders and cancel those orders. Why doesn't he tear off that Rajasthan agreement with Adani saying no solar power here. No way, you are Modi-Adani Bhai Bhai. We don't want Modi Adani Bhai Bhai' in Rajasthan," the Finance Minister said.
"If there is any crony capitalism is happening, it is happening in Congress-led governments and Rahul Gandhi did not speak a word about it", she alleged.
Sitharaman also recalled that Gandhi had to give written apologies twice.
"In 2019, while making allegations during Rafale aircraft procurement, you were giving such statements against the Prime Minister, that you had to seek an apology in the Supreme Court," the Minister pointed out.
"Today he is saying I am Gandhi, not Savarkar' . Does he remember the two apologies he gave earlier?" she asked.
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Rupee falls to record low of 86.04 against US dollar, settles 18 paise lower
Mumbai, Jan 10: The rupee declined 18 paise to breach the 86-mark against the US dollar for the first time on Friday as it failed to resist pressure from a stronger American currency and huge outflow of foreign funds.
The local unit settled at 86.04 against the US currency.
Surging crude oil prices overseas and negative sentiment in domestic equity markets also weighed down on the Indian currency, forex traders said.
Also, dollar strengthened on increased demand amid the anticipation of restrictive trade measures by the new US administration after Donald Trump takes over as president on January 20.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 85.88, hit the intra-day peak of 85.85 before breaching the 86-mark to settle at the lowest-ever level of 86.04 against the greenback, 18 paise lower from its previous close.
On Thursday, the rupee gained 5 paise to settle at 85.86 against the US dollar, recovering from the steep decline of 17 paise in the preceding session.
Anuj Choudhary, Research Analyst at Mirae Asset Sharekhan, said the rupee hit another record low as domestic markets continued to slide and FIIs outflows sustained. A strong US dollar and surge in crude oil prices also pressured the rupee.
"Weak tone in the domestic markets, a strong greenback and persistent FII outflows may continue to put downside pressure on the rupee. Rising crude oil prices, as well as surge in the US treasury yields may further weigh on the domestic unit.
"However, any RBI intervention may support rupee at lower levels. Traders may take cues from the non-farm payrolls report and consumer sentiment data from the US. USD-INR spot price is expected to trade in a range of Rs 85.80 to Rs 86.15," he said.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.01 per cent higher at 109.01. The 10-year US bond yields also rose to its April 2024 level at 4.69 per cent.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, surged 1.96 per cent to USD 78.43 per barrel in futures trade.
In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex declined 241.30 points, or 0.31 per cent, to settle at 77,378.91 points, while the Nifty dropped 95.00 points, or 0.40 per cent, to 23,431.50 points. The indices have been on the downward track for the past three sessions.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded Rs 2,254.68 crore in the capital markets on a net basis on Friday, according to exchange data.
The latest government data released on Friday showed the country's industrial production (IIP) growth accelerated to a six-month high of 5.2 per cent year-on-year in November 2024, riding on the increased festive demand and pick up in manufacturing sector.
