NAVEENA GHANATE
Hyderabad
Even though the BRS and the Congress are seeking a probe into the affairs of the Adani group based on the Hindenburg report, many Telangana politicians have shares in the group.Many TS politicos have invested in Adani Power and Adani Ports while some others have invested in Adani Enterprises, Adani Transmission, Adani Total Gas and Adani Green Energy.
A Telangana politician said that he had invested in Adani Ports heavily but currently is in “wait and watch mode.”“Stocks are always a gamble and over the past couple of years, Adani stocks have been one of the best performers until the Hindenburg report came out. A large number of politicians have business interests. Irrespective of our party’s stand we invest. It is not just us at the receiving end, commoners too have lost.
I am certain that a large number of people have invested like me. Some may have already reaped the benefits,” said a Telangana politician on condition of anonymity.
Another BRS politician without disclosing the value of his shares said that politicians too are human beings and like others, they too invested. “I haven’t sold my stock but loss is a loss. What we do at the individual level is not the party’s stand. There is nothing wrong in it.”
Even Friday Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao said that the Centre is socialising losses and privatising profits, that is, Janata ko khaato Adani ko dho (Loot the public and give to Adani).
Most politicians are in wait-and-watch mode. “It is not at all encouraging. Either Adani Enterprises’ share will rebound on Monday or Adani Enterprises will reduce its follow-on public offer (FPO) price. I think even after lowering the FPO price, the revival of the Adani Enterprises share is a must. But one can’t decrease FPO price by more than 10 per cent. Let’s see what will happen to the FPO which closes on Tuesday.”
It may be mentioned here that Hindenburg, the US short-selling firm run by Nate Anderson, made hard-hitting allegations of corporate malpractice against the Adani group in an almost 100-page report, sending the group’s shares tumbling on Wednesday.
Hindenburg said it is short on Adani securities via derivatives and US-traded bonds. The Adani Group rejected the accusations as “baseless” and “selective misinformation.”
