Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of not standing up to US President Donald Trump's tariff threats due to the bribery allegations involving the Adani Group.
"India, please understand: The reason PM Modi cannot stand up to President Trump despite his repeated threats is the ongoing U.S. investigation into Adani," Rahul wrote in a post on X.
"One threat is to expose the financial links between Modi, AA, and Russian oil deals. Modi's hands are tied," he added.
He did not specify what AA means, but he has a track record of accusing Modi of being in cahoots with billionaires like the Adanis and the Ambanis,
The noose is tightening around PM Modi’s close friend - Gautam Adani.
— Congress (@INCIndia) August 6, 2025
His abrupt resignation from his port company—his group’s most lucrative business—comes amid mounting legal challenges worldwide, particularly in the United States.
Here are the factsGautam Adani has…
Gautam Adani stepping down from his key managerial role as executive chairman at Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone has further amplified speculation surrounding Rahul Gandhi’s claims.
Adani, 63, and seven others — including his nephew Sagar Adani, director at Adani Green Energy — are accused in a US indictment of paying roughly $265 million in bribes to Indian officials between 2020 and 2024.
The goal, according to the charges unsealed in a New York court last November, was to secure lucrative solar energy contracts expected to generate $2 billion in profit over two decades.
The Adani Group has denied any wrongdoing.
Rahul’s broadside came a day after his party’s senior leader Jairam Ramesh posted an extract from the memoir of Robert Lighthizer, Trump’s top trade negotiator during his first term, that claimed India was run by a handful of billionaires.
“It is also unusual in the extent to which oligarchs influence government policy,” the extract said. “When I was in negotiations with Indian officials, I kept a copy of the biography of each of the country's fifteen or so billionaires on my desk. In predicting Indian government positions, I would look to the interests of these men.”
Lighthizer added that a wealthy Indian acquaintance told him, “Bob, you're wrong. Only about seven of them actually run the country. The others just try to influence the seven.”
Rahul’s remarks also came amid escalating rhetoric from Trump, who on Tuesday warned that tariffs on Indian imports — currently at 25 per cent — would be increased “very substantially” within 24 hours.
He has accused India of financing Russia’s “war machine” and not caring about Ukraine.
