Gautam Adani denies speaking on behalf of PM Narendra Modi to journalist Rajdeep Sardesai

New Delhi: Adani group chairman Gautam Adani has said that he was not speaking on behalf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he had a conversation with journalist Rajdeep Sardesai about his fracas with alleged BJP supporters at Madison Square Garden on Sunday. Adani told ET from Washington DC that he had “bumped into” Sardesai at a restaurant in DC on Monday where he asked him about the incident and said no leader would support such behaviour.

A website had reported that Adani called up Sardesai and delivered a personal message from the prime minister stating that he was upset over the incident.

“I met Rajdeep at an Indian restaurant in DC last evening where we chatted for a few minutes. The topic of his manhandling came up. I told him that no leader will approve of such kind of incident and Modi is no exception. Rajdeep told me about this incident in detail and said he regretted what had happened. He said the crowd had abused his son which had upset him greatly,” said Adani.

Adani was emphatic that the PM had had no conversation with him on the issue and neither was he asked to convey anything to Sardesai. “Why would the PM discuss such a small issue,” said Adani.

Sardesai was allegedly involved in a scuffle while covering the PM’s Madison Square event on Sunday after a group of pro Modi supporters heckled and abused him. The many versions of the incident soon found its way on social media where it was widely discussed. Sardesai himself tweeted that he was abused and kicked by the crowd in New York. The visuals that were circulated showed that Sardesai had tried to hit the man who allegedly heckled him first. Sardesai says the video circulated was just an edited version of what transpired.