New Delhi: Billionaire George Soros has kicked up a storm in India by predicting that the Adani crisis “will significantly weaken” Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “stranglehold” on government.
His remarks have led to furious pushback from both the ruling and opposition camps, with Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party saying on Friday that the 92-year-old investor has “now declared his ill intentions to intervene in the democratic processes” of the South Asian nation.
In a speech ahead of the 2023 Munich Security Conference, the veteran investor claimed that Modi and business tycoon Gautam Adani are “close allies” and that their fate is “intertwined.”
“Adani is accused of stock manipulation and his stock collapsed like a house of cards,” he said of the infrastructure and energy conglomerate’s billionaire leader.
Shares of Adani group companies plunged following U.S. short-seller Hindenburg’s allegations last month of “brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud.” The group has denied wrongdoing and called the report “a calculated attack on India.”
Investments by government-run entities such as the State Bank of India, the country’s largest lender, and Life Insurance Corp. have given the scandal an additional political angle, with opposition parties repeatedly demanding an investigation.
“Modi is silent on the subject, but he will have to answer questions from foreign investors and in parliament,” Soros said. “This will significantly weaken Modi’s stranglehold on India’s federal government and open the door to push for much-needed institutional reforms. I may be naive, but I expect a democratic revival in India.”
Hitting back at Soros, Smriti Irani, a senior leader of the ruling BJP and minister in the Modi government, said Soros had “now pronounced his desire to break the Indian democracy.” She added that he is the man “who broke the Bank of England” and who is regarded by some “as an economic war criminal,” referring to his bet against the pound in 1992 and other controversial market plays.
Irani said the Modi government was laying a foundation for the country and a stronger economy, pointing to welfare programs including efforts to ensure food security for 800 million people. She also hailed India’s role as a “pharmacy to the world” during the COVID-19 pandemic.
That Soros “wants a government which is pliable to his needs is more than evident from his statements,” Irani alleged. She said that India has defeated “imperialistic designs” before and that “those who support Mr. Soros need to know that democracy has prevailed in India and will continue to do so.”
The main opposition Indian National Congress party, which has been pressing Modi hard over the Adani issue, was quick to dissociate itself from Soros’ comments.
“Our Nehruvian legacy ensures people like Soros cannot determine our electoral outcomes,” Congress said. Jawaharlal Nehru, the great grandfather of senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, was India’s first prime minister after freedom from British rule in 1947.
“Whether the PM-linked Adani scam sparks a democratic revival in India depends entirely on the Congress, opposition parties and our electoral process,” tweeted Jairam Ramesh, Congress’ general secretary in charge of communications. “It has NOTHING to do with George Soros.” Asian Nikkei.com
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