Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president attacked industrialist Gautam Adani again on Tuesday, while speaking to media persons at his ‘Shivtirth’ residence in Dadar West.
“Adani purchased ports and other assets from others at gunpoint. In a business like cement where Gautam Adani was never present, he is now number two. Birla is number one. Adani is next. He has bought up Ultratech and Ambuja as well as a few other companies and has reached number two position. In the last 10 years, this person has gone from zero to number two. He has reached number two by taking over other people’s businesses. Many industries like power and steel are also in the same position,” MNS founder Raj Thackeray said.
“I want to tell the Chief Minister that this issue is not about whose business grew, but about how that growth took place. It is necessary to understand how only one industrialist is growing. It is necessary for the people to understand this growth,” Raj Thackeray said.
Citing the example of Indigo growing into a monopoly, Raj Thackeray alleged that “Tomorrow, this one man (Adani) can take over the entire country. The best example of this is the recent Indigo case. It brought the entire country to a standstill. All the airports were closed. The Chief Minister needs to understand this threat. Who provided financial assistance to Adani while he was acquiring industries? Which banks gave him loans? Which other institutions were made to provide financial assistance? If things collapse tomorrow, jobs will not only be lost, the entire country will be ruined,” Thackeray said.
“It is necessary for every citizen to understand how the Adani group’s growth happened. The Modi government has a big hand behind Gautam Adani’s growth. The issue is how did a businessman become so big in merely 10 years, when the Tatas and Ambanis took decades to grow,” Thackeray said.
Shortly after Raj Thackeray attacked Adani, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis told media persons that Chief Ministers of other states, including the Congress, had benefited from Adani’s investments.
“Raj Thackeray has claimed that after 2014, Adani’s net worth increased due to Prime Minister Modi. I am not an advocate for Adani, but one thing should be kept in mind that in 2014, India was the 11th largest economy in the world and now in 2026, India is heading towards becoming the third largest economy in the world. Naturally, after the economy grew, many new entrepreneurs were created across the country. Due to Prime Minister Modi, companies which could not be listed in the capital market earlier managed to get listed. Established industrial groups in the country also grew enormously,” Fadnavis said.
“After 2014, the income of Tata Group increased by 664 per cent, HDFC Bank’s income grew by 377 per cent, Adani Group grew by 686 per cent, Infosys by 280 per cent, Aditya Birla Group grew by 566 per cent, Bharti Group grew by 266 per cent, Sun Pharma frew by 152 per cent and the Hinduja Group grew by 376 per cent,” Fadnavis said.
Later, BJP spokesperson Avadhoot Wagh circulated an old photograph taken at Raj Thackeray’s residence showing him with industrialist Gautam Adani, on social media and reminded Raj Thackeray of his meeting with Adani.
“I want to make it clear through this post that Adani is not the son-in-law of the BJP. If any Indian industrialist makes progress at the international level and adds value to the Indian economy, we as Indians should be proud of him,” Wagh told media persons.
“If Adani becomes big, how does it hurt Raj Thackeray’s health? Why the Thackeray brothers, who do not do any business anywhere, are simply jealous of Adani, is beyond my imagination,” Wagh said.
Reacting to BJP spokesperson Wagh’s statement, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP and chief Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut said, “Raj Thackeray said that if somebody visits my house, even if he is my friend, I will never cover up his sins. I will expose his sins. That takes courage. Does the BJP have such courage? If they have that courage, they should speak up. Gautam Adani has become your father. Now you are trembling in front of your father. There will be no airport in Mumbai anymore, because it is an international city, right? The plot of Mumbai airport is going to be given to Adani”.