Congress leader P Chidambaram on May 10 questioned the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman over Rahul Gandhi’s demand of enquiry into the Prime Minister’s allegation that the grand old party had received “tempo loads of black money” from industrialists Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani.
The silence of the two leaders is ominous, said the former Union Minister, Chidambaram.
“The Hon'ble Prime Minister had made a very serious allegation: that two prominent industrialists have tempo-filling quantities of cash, and they were delivered to the Congress party. Coming from the Hon'ble Prime Minister, this allegation has to be viewed with utmost seriousness. Mr Rahul Gandhi has demanded an enquiry by the CBI or ED. The demand for an enquiry is absolutely justified,” Chidambaram said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on May 10.
The former Union Home Minister was referring to PM Modi questioning the “sudden” silence of Congress leaders on (Mukesh) Ambani and (Gautam) Adani in this (Lok Sabha) election.
Addressing an election rally earlier this week, PM Modi asked if the Congress was receiving "tempo loads of black money" from Ambani and Adani. “Since the Rafale issue grounded, they started talking about five industrialists. Then, they started talking about Ambani and Adani. I wish to ask the Shehzada (Rahul Gandhi) of the Congress from the soil of Telangana, how much black money have they received from Adani, Ambani?” Modi asked in a rally in Telangana on May 9.
Responding to PM Modi's allegations, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had demanded a probe by central investigating agencies. Chidambaram called the demand justified.
“Why has the Hon'ble Prime Minister (the Minister for CBI) gone quiet in the last 24 hours? Why has the Hon'ble Finance Minister (the Minister for ED) not responded to the demand for an enquiry? Their silence is ominous,” he said.
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