Industrialist
Gautam Adani met Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president
Sharad Pawar on Thursday, amid the Opposition’s demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the Adani-Hindenburg issue.
The meeting, held at Pawar’s residence Silver Oak in south Mumbai, reportedly lasted for nearly two hours. While there is lack of clarity on the details of the meeting and what transpired between the two, the development comes at a crucial time.
Significance of the meetLok Sabha MP and Pawar’s daughter
Supriya Sule on April 19 claimed that there will be two "[political] blasts" — one in Delhi and another in Maharashtra — in the next 15 days, even though she did not elaborate on what kind of political shakeups she was referring to.
On the other hand, Sule’s cousin Ajit Pawar is said to be ‘negotiating’ an alliance with BJP to share power in Maharashtra. Both Sharad Pawar and Ajit have scotched speculation that the latter and a group of MLAs loyal to him might align with the ruling party. But speculation has not died down in Maharashtra’s power circles.
And, earlier this month, Pawar had come out in support of the
Adani group and criticised the narrative around the US short-seller Hindenburg Research’s report on the conglomerate. Taking a position at variance from other opposition allies, Pawar had said he favoured a Supreme Court committee to probe allegations against the Adani group.
Old tiesPawar’s friendship with Gautam Adani dates back to nearly two decades when the businessman was exploring expansion into the coal sector. In his Marathi autobiography published in 2015, Pawar showered praise on Adani describing him as “hard-working, simple, down to earth”.