The Congress on Wednesday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was attacking “his friends” – referring to industrialists Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani – because he senses his impending defeat in the Lok Sabha elections.

Earlier in the day, the prime minister claimed at a rally in Telangana that the Congress had stopped abusing Ambani and Adani overnight, and asked whether the party had received “black money” from them in return.

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

In response, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge claimed that Modi’s remark was the real indicator of the election results. “This shows that Modiji’s chair is shaking,” Kharge said on X.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that the prime minister normally talks about the two businessmen “only behind closed doors” and Wednesday’s rally was the first time he publicly named them.

“You even know that they give money in tempos – is this your personal experience?” asked Gandhi. “Send the CBI [Central Bureau of Investigation] and ED [Enforcement Directorate] to them and get an inquiry done as soon as possible. Do not be afraid.”

Gandhi further asserted: “We will give to India’s poor the same amount of money that Narendra Modiji gave to them [Adani and Ambani]. Through schemes such as the Mahalaxmi Yojana and Pehli Naukri Pakki Yojana, we will make crores of lakhpatis. They [Bharatiya Janata Party-led government] created 22 billionaires, we will create crores of lakhpatis.”

Congress General Secretary in-charge of Communications Jairam Ramesh claimed that Modi was making such statements as he was perturbed on seeing his impending electoral defeat.

Ramesh asked how the prime minister’s “friends” had black money if he had implemented demonetisation to get rid of such illicit funds. He further questioned why central agencies such as the Central Bureau of Investigation, Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax Department were not acting against conglomerates owned by Adani and Ambani if the two industrialists had “sacks full of black money”.

The Congress MP said: “If public assets have been sold to Adani and Ambani through privatisation in the past ten years, where has black money come from?”

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.

Other Opposition leaders also criticised Modi for his allegations on Wednesday. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav claimed the prime minister’s remarks were proof that demonetisation had failed to curb black money.

“Big industrialists must have evaded Goods and Services and Tax and income tax, which must have been how so much black money was created in the first place,” said Yadav. “The government either allowed this to happen or was unable to stop it. Either way, it is the failure of the government.”

Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale noted that there was no mention of Adani’s companies among those who donated to the BJP through electoral bonds. “PM Modi should now tell us if that’s because the cash comes to BJP in a tempo,” he remarked.