NEW DELHI: The allegations levelled by Jayanthi Natarajan prove the existence of "backseat and motivated driving" during the tenure of the UPA government, Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani has claimed."We are shocked and surprised by the revelations made by Ms.Jayanti Natarajan, Minister of Environment and Forest in UPA II, which indicate there was a back seat and motivated driving," Adani said, reacting to the press conference held by Natarajan in Chennai on Friday.During the 2014 general election campaign, Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi had launched repeated attacks on the Adani Group, alleging that the edible oils to coal conglomerate was the beneficiary of largesse, principally cheap land, during the tenure of the then-CM of Gujarat, Narendra Modi. Gandhi had claimed that the favours allegedly doled out to Adani was an example of crony capitalism. Adani for his part has always denied the allegations."In past, we had tried to contact top leaderships of the Congress party to clarify our position, but were not provided any opportunity," Adani said on Friday. "We are committed to nation building and we have always followed laws of the land in all our endeavors," Adani said.In a story dated 7 July 2014, we had reported on communication between the office of Rahul Gandhi and Natarajan concerning an Adani project. The communication concerned a SEZ in Gujarat, being implemented by the Adani Group, which was facing opposition from a section of the local community.The story reported that between July and September 2012 Gandhi’s office, Natarajan and local Gujarat Congress leader Dipak Babaria, had exchanged a large number of e-mails. The role of Gandhi’s office was to forward complaints by Babaria who claimed to be representing those opposed to the project.Babaria had also suggested that a committee headed by note environmentalist Sunita Narain should be set up to review the project. Such a committee was indeed set up and recommended a fine of Rs 200 crore on the company, Adani Port and SEZ for alleged violation of environmental norms.