Since January 24, when Hindenburg Research published a study accusing the Gautam Adani group of market manipulation, the Adani Group stocks has fallen precipitously. Now, former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag has come out in support of the Adani conglomerate in a veiled post while labelling the dramatic market decline a “foreign conspiracy”.
Sehwag said in a tweet, “Goron se India ki tarakki bardaasht nahi hoti (The foreigner can’t tolerate India’s progress). The hitjob on India’s market looks like a well planned conspiracy. Koshish kitni bhi kar lein but as always, Bharat aur majboot hi nikalkar ubhrega (No matter how hard they try, India will emerge stronger as always.”
However, a lot of netizens didn’t agree with Sehwag’s opinions. One user wrote, “Pahli baat Adani Bharat nhi hai, Bharat ko itna chhota mat banao aur doosri aur important baat koi bhi hmare beech thag hai uski turant enquiry kro aur agar usne thagi ki hai to jail me daalo, vo chahe tum ho ya Adani ya xyz (Firstly, Adani is not India. Do not belittle India so much. Secondly and more importantly, start an immediate enquiry for any fraudster who’s among us and imprison that person if found guilty, no matter who it is.).”
Meanwhile, another user wrote, “Aa Gaya Viru Opening Batting Pe … First Ball out of the Park for a Six.”
K Chandrashekar Rao, the chief minister of Telangana, had earlier called for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to investigate the alleged fraud by the Adani Group. KCR claimed that the Centre is forcing Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) to produce a misleading declaration regarding its exposure in the Adani Group while speaking at a press conference in Nanded, a city in the Maharashtra state. He added that the Adani Group is the only supplier of coal at the Center, which is forcing states to import it.
Bihar CM Nitish Kumar demanded an investigation for the alleged Adani scam.
Meanwhile, Uday Kotak had said that he does not see any systemic risk to the Indian financial system, despite recent steep market drops in Adani Group stocks. The senior banker believes that important Indian corporates rely more on outside sources for debt and equity funding.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had earlier ordered banks to provide specifics regarding their exposures to the Adani Group earlier this week. The central bank stated on Friday that there have been reports expressing worry on the exposures of the banks to the troubled conglomerate’s activities.
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