Amid criticism from Opposition parties against the Adani Group, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar met billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani on Saturday and visited the businessman’s office and residence in Ahmedabad.
The NCP chief had raised eyebrows when he met billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani earlier this year amidst demands by Opposition parties for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into allegations levelled by U.S. short-seller Hindenburg against the business group.
Mr. Pawar is a frontline leader of the umbrella Opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), which is looking to challenge the ruling BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
On Saturday, Mr. Pawar and Mr. Adani first inaugurated a factory at a village in Sanand in Ahmedabad.
The NCP chief thereafter visited Mr. Adani's residence and office in Ahmedabad, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. It wasn't immediately known what transpired in the meeting.
Mr. Pawar posted on X (formerly Twitter) pictures of him and the industrialist cutting a ribbon of the factory.
"It was a privilege to inaugurate India's first Lactoferrin Plant Exympower in Vasna, Chacharwadi, Gujarat along with Mr. Gautam Adani," the NCP president posted on X.
In April, Mr. Adani had visited Mr. Pawar's residence Silver Oak in south Mumbai. That meeting, which lasted for almost two hours, came within days of Mr. Pawar coming out in support of the embattled industrialist and criticising the narrative being built around the Hindenburg report.
His position was seen at variance with his allies such as Congress who had been gunning for a JPC to probe allegations of fraud and stock market manipulations. Mr. Adani has denied all allegations.
Mr. Pawar had at that time stated that he favoured a Supreme Court committee probing allegations against the Adani Group. Mr. Adani had again visited Mr. Pawar's residence in June.
The relationship between Mr. Pawar and Mr. Adani goes back nearly two decades. In his Marathi autobiography Lok Maze Saangati published in 2015, Mr. Pawar showered praises on Mr. Adani who at the time was venturing into the coal sector.
He described Mr. Adani as "hard-working, simple, down to earth" and with an ambition to make it big in the infrastructure sector.
The veteran politician also wrote that it was at his insistence that Mr. Adani ventured into the thermal power sector. Mr. Pawar recounts in the book how Mr. Adani built his corporate empire from scratch, starting as a salesman on Mumbai local trains and dabbling in small ventures, before trying his luck in the diamond industry.
Published - September 23, 2023 10:15 pm IST
