Soon after the Adani Group announced investment worth Rs 12,400 crore in Telangana across multiple businesses, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) called it ‘hypocrisy’ on the part of Congress. BRS leader and former Industries Minister of Telangana KT Rama Rao pointed out that while Rahul Gandhi continues to criticise billionaire businessman Gautam Adani, his proximity to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the alleged irregularities in his businesses, Congress Chief Minister Revanth Reddy continued to do business with the same company.
The Adani Group announced an investment worth Rs 12,400 crore in Telangana across multiple businesses on January 17, when CM Revanth met Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos. This includes a Rs 1,000 crore investment by Adani Aerospace and Defence, in counter drone systems , missile development and manufacturing centres at the Adani Aerospace and Defence Park
The Adani Group currently operates an unmanned aerial vehicle manufacturing unit at the Adani Aerospace Park near the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad, in collaboration with Israeli military manufacturer Elbit Systems. This Adani Elbit Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Complex (UAV) was inaugurated in Hyderabad in 2018, under the BRS government, by then Home Minister Mohammad Mahmood Ali. In recent years, BRS leaders including KTR have also grown critical of the alleged quid pro quo between the Adani Group and the PM Modi-led Union government.
A few days before the Revanth Reddy government’s deals with the Adani Group were at Davos, a team from the Adani Group met the CM on January 3 to discuss potential areas of investment. The contingent was led by Karan Adani, the CEO of Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd and the eldest son of Gautam Adani.
A day after the announcement at Davos, KTR shared a video from Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, where the Congress leader is heard blaming the Modi government for prevailing unemployment and alleging that the Union government was only concerned about the well-being of a couple of businessmen like Adani and was handing over the nation’s airports, ports, agriculture and infrastructure to them.
“If Hypocrisy had a face it has to be this. Rahul Gandhi continues with his tirade against Crony Capitalism: Gautam Adani and his nexus with PM Modi. While his Congress CM Revanth Reddy is openly doing business with the same Gentleman on the same day ! Stop fooling the Nation Mr. Gandhi. We all now know your own party CM is also a Crony of the same Capitalist,” KTR said, criticising Revanth.
At a meeting with party workers in Mahabubnagar, KTR also reportedly called Revanth Reddy opportunistic for making deals with Adani after calling him a ‘thief’ before the elections, adding that the Congress government in Telangana would fall in six months for failing to deliver on its promises.
Hitting back at the criticism, Congress intellectual forum chairperson A Shyam Mohan and spokesperson Bhavai Reddy said that the agreements were meant only to bring investments and jobs to Telangana, in the interest of its people, Times of India reported.
Last year, KTR was the face of Telangana at Davos, and announced investments worth Rs 21,000 crore from the visit. This year, BRS supporters on social media had expressed scepticism if Revanth Reddy could rake in as many investments as BRS. Some of them even resorted to ridiculing him for not speaking English as fluently as KTR in interviews with media persons.
In all, the Telangana delegation led by CM Revanth, IT & Industries Minister D Sridhar Babu and other officials, signed new investment deals of Rs 40,232 crore at the WEF meeting in Davos this year.