Adani row: Opposition MPs call off protest march after Delhi police blockade

NEW DELHI: Leaders of several Opposition parties were on Wednesday stopped by the police at Vijay Chowk here as they took out a protest march from Parliament House to hand over a complaint to the Enforcement Directorate on the Adani issue.

As the Opposition leaders were stopped from proceeding to the agency's office, they returned to the Parliament complex.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that the police was not allowing the opposition MPs of around 18 parties to march in protest and present their case for a detailed investigation into the Adani issue. The police said the opposition MPs cannot march forward as Section 144 CrPC was imposed in the area.

"Opposition MPs of nearly 18 parties want to give a memorandum to the Enforcement Directorate on the Adani issue, but the government is not allowing us to march forward and the police have stopped us at Vijay Chowk," Kharge told reporters.

"We want to present our case to ED for a detailed investigation on the Adani issue and we will keep trying to march forward," the Congress chief said.

Congress deputy leader in Rajya Sabha Pramod Tiwari said, "We are 200 MPs of opposition parties and were seeking to march to the ED office to present a memorandum for a probe into the Adani issue, but we were stopped forcibly by the police."

"We are going back to Parliament and would stage a protest inside Parliament House," he said, as several MPs returned to Parliament after the police did not allow them to march forward.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said "we will not be deterred from marching forward and will continue with our protest march."

#WATCH | Delhi: Opposition MPs begin their march from Parliament to ED office to submit a memorandum over Adani issue. pic.twitter.com/AEMd2Zx0vJ

— ANI (@ANI) March 15, 2023

The protest march began at 12:30 pm from Parliament House and MPs from several opposition parties took part. The TMC and NCP, however, were not part of the opposition protest march.

The opposition has been demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the Adani-Hindenburg issue and has been stalling proceedings of Parliament over their demand.

US short-seller Hindenburg Research had alleged that the Adani group was "engaged in a brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud", and used offshore shell companies to inflate stock prices.

The group had denied the allegations, calling them "malicious", "baseless" and a "calculated attack on India The Trinamool Congress separately staged a protest in front of the Gandhi statue in the Parliament complex over the LPG price hike and demanded answers from the government.

TMC MPs raised slogans against the government over the LPG price hike and demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should give them answers.

Stepping up their attack on the government on the Adani issue, the Congress on Tuesday asked why it has taken the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) "more than eight years" to complete its investigation into the imports of power equipment by the Adani Group and whether the contents of its report will be made public.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh also asked why the DRI did not appeal against the ruling of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal that set aside a 2013 order imposing a fine on Adani companies for circular trading of diamonds and claiming export subsidies.

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