'Allegations against Adani stand true as govt didn't refute them'

NEW DELHI: DMK leader A Raja claimed on Thursday that the opposition's allegations about businessman Gautam Adani stand true as the government has not "refuted" them.

Participating in a discussion on the Union Budget for 2023-24, Raja said the claim of the government that it was the representative of 140 crore people of the country was also not true as the opposition has more than 200 MPs in Lok Sabha.

"The allegations made by the opposition were not refuted at all by the government. Since it was not refuted, it stands true," he said.

The opposition, including the Congress and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), has stalled the proceedings of both Houses of Parliament for three days of the Budget Session, demanding a joint parliamentary committee probe into the fraud-allegation-triggered rout in Adani Group company stocks, before participating in the debate on the motion of thanks on the President's address.

Raja said that out of the total MPs of the Lok Sabha, more than 200 belong to the opposition parties.

"You are claiming that you enjoy the patronage and confidence of the country's 140 crore people. How can you make such a claim when over 200 (opposition) MPs are not with you," he asked.

The DMK leader said he was totally disappointed with the budget presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as it neglected sectors such as education, health and agriculture.

He said no fund has been allocated for setting up new school for the tribals and there is little for the marginal sections of society such as Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes.

As a result, private schools will flourish and people's purchasing power will go down, he said.

Participating in the discussion, Congress MP M K Raghavan rued that the government has not allocated enough funds for the rural jobs guaranteed scheme MGNREGA and demanded that the wage should be enhanced at least to Rs 400 per day for person under the scheme.

Raghavan said the budget allocations for the health sector and the public distribution system were not enough and sought their increase.