Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday claimed that the Congress had stopped criticising industrialists Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani since the Lok Sabha elections were announced. He asked whether the Opposition party had received “black money” from them in return.

Modi claimed that it was suspicious how Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had “stopped abusing Ambani and Adani overnight”.

Congress leaders, including Gandhi, have accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union government of favouritism towards conglomerates owned by Ambani and Adani. The party’s claims about the Adani Group grew more emphatic in the wake of allegations of accounting fraud, improper use of tax havens and money laundering against the conglomerate made by United States-based short seller Hindenburg Research in January 2023.

“How many bags of black money have been taken?” Modi asked at a rally at Telangana’s Karimnagar on Wednesday. “Have tempos full of [currency] notes reached the Congress? What is the deal that you stopped abusing Ambani and Adani overnight?”

The prime minister added: “They [Congress] abused Ambani and Adani for five years and overnight the abuses stopped? This means you have some stolen ‘maal’ [material] packed in tempos. You must give answers to the nation.”

Three phases of the Lok Sabha elections have been completed. The remaining phases will be held on May 13, May 20, May 25 and June 1. In Telangana, Lok Sabha elections will be held in a single phase on May 13.