Tensions flared outside the Telangana Assembly on Monday, December 9, the first day of the winter Assembly session, as opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLAs staged a protest donning t-shirts with the slogan ‘Adani Revanth Bhai Bhai’. The police barred the BRS MLAs from entering the Assembly for wearing the t-shirts, which were aimed at mocking Chief Minister Revanth Reddy. BRS working president KT Rama Rao confronted the police, questioning the grounds on which they were denied entry.
The BRS protest mirrored Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s recent demonstration in Parliament, where he wore a t-shirt with the slogan ‘Modi Adani Ek Hai, Adani Safe Hai’ in the wake of industrialist Gautam Adani’s indictment in the United States on bribery allegations. The Leader of the Opposition had challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take action against the industrialist.
BRS leaders accused Rahul Gandhi of hypocrisy for his party’s government preventing them from protesting in a similar manner. The BRS has also criticised the Telangana Congress for what it calls a deceptive stance on Adani. While Rahul Gandhi has been vocal in attacking Adani and his alleged proximity to Prime Minister Modi, CM Revanth Reddy invited the industrialist to invest in the state’s Skill University. However, the Telangana government later rejected a Rs 100 crore funding proposal from Adani, following allegations that Adani and his associates conspired to bribe Indian government officials to secure solar energy contracts that were projected to generate $2 billion in profits over 20 years.