New Delhi: Stepping up its attack on Sonia Gandhi, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accused the former Congress president of having links with an organisation funded by the George Soros Foundation, which it claimed has supported independence for Kashmir.
On Monday, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju and BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi sought to corner the Congress veteran, a tactic that is not the first time being used against the Gandhis.
The Congress, meanwhile, has dismissed all claims made by the BJP, with its MP Karti Chidambaram dubbing the allegations as “dark fantasies”.
At a press conference, Trivedi sought to know the Congress’ connection with the Forum of Democratic Leaders in Asia-Pacific (FDL-AP).
“There is an organisation called Forum of Democratic Leaders in Asia-Pacific, and it has four co-chairs. Sonia Gandhi as the chairperson of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, is one of the co-chairpersons of the Forum of Democratic Leaders in Asia-Pacific…The financial support being given to the Forum of Democratic Leaders in Asia-Pacific is from the contribution of the George Soros Foundation. Mr Soros is the same person who has openly said that he has invested $1 billion to destabilise the Modi government…,” the BJP spokesperson claimed.
“What is the connection of the Congress with the Forum of Democratic Leaders in Asia-Pacific? Are the anti-India and pro-Pakistan things written in the Forum of Democratic Leaders in Asia-Pacific written with your (Congress) understanding?… Does the Congress have any connection with the traitors (Soros)?”
Russia had accused Washington of meddling in the Indian general elections and now the onus was on the US State Department to dissociate itself from Soros’ anti-Modi activities, Trivedi added.
The BJP has been attacking the Congress at a time when logjam continued in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha over the Adani controversy and farmers issues among other issues. On Saturday, the US embassy termed “disappointing” the BJP’s accusation that the State Department and “deep state” elements in Washington were trying to destabilise India in conjunction with a group of investigative journalists and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
Earlier in the day, Rijiju said that there are some issues that shouldn’t be seen through “political lenses”. “Regarding the George Soros issue, the reports that have come out in the public domain—the charges are serious. Be it a Member of Parliament or a common man, everyone should work for the country. We appeal to be united and fight against anti-India forces,” he added.
But, Karti Chidambaram of the Congress slammed “deep state theories”, which should not be taken seriously. “These deep state theories should be confined to the dark web and not serious political discourse,” the two-time MP said. “People have dark, morbid fantasies, and they can continue to have them, and there will be no credence given to all these conspiracy theories.”
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BJP’s larger plan
The BJP has launched an aggressive campaign against the Gandhi family, with its social media wing coming up with several posts linking Soros with the Congress party.
“Sonia Gandhi, as the co-president of the FDL-AP Foundation, is linked to an organisation financed by the George Soros Foundation. Notably, the FDL-AP Foundation has expressed their views that treat Kashmir as a separate entity. This association between Sonia Gandhi and an organisation that has backed the idea of Kashmir as an independent nation expresses the influence of foreign entities on India’s internal affairs and the political impact of such connections,” reads one of the BJP posts on its handle in ‘X’.
Another such post alleged that the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation has a partnership with the Soros Foundation. Referring to Salil Shetty of the Open Society Foundation, it added that the Soros Foundation vice-president participated in Rahul’s Bharat Jodo Yatra.
One of the many allegations put up by the BJP include that Rahul’s press conference on Adani was live telecast by the Soros-funded Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).
The BJP’s strategy to attack the Congress on its alleged link to Soros became seemingly clear Monday, when treasury benches forced adjournments in both Houses of Parliament.
Facing heat over Adani row, the BJP sought to turn the tables when treasury benches forced adjournment by raising the Congress party’s alleged links with the Hungarian-American businessman-cum-investor.
In the Rajya Sabha, chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar allowed BJP MP Laxmikant Vajpayee to speak on the Soros-Congress alleged link. Congress MP Jairam Ramesh objected to it, but Dhankhar allowed the BJP MP to carry on in the House.
“Sonia Gandhi has links with George Soros, and Soros is not only attacking the Indian economy but also a leading Indian businessman (read, Adani),” the RS MP from Uttar Pradesh said.
Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh accused the Rajya Sabha chairperson of favouring the treasury benches, while CPI’s Sandosh Kumar asserted that Sonia’s name was being dragged by the government to avoid any discussion about Adani.
On Friday, Rahul led Congress MPs wearing PM-Adani masks outside Parliament to attack the NDA government for avoiding a discussion on the Adani bribery case.
“Soon after Parliament started last week, the Opposition used the Adani issue to corner the government; the entire first week was washed out… When reports came out that OCCRP has been funded by the US State Department and Soros, it was decided to link the businessman’s anti-India connection with the Congress party,” a BJP floor leader told ThePrint.
This way the ruling party, the BJP floor leader said, can expose the Congress’ link to anti-India activities. “By leveraging the attack on Soros and Congress, the BJP can establish that the entire attack on Modi and Adani are motivated and sponsored…”
The party is also aware that the Modi government’s connection with the erstwhile Trump administration could backfire, he added.
“But, the party is also aware that many anti-Modi elements have deep roots in the US State Department and other organisations. Under Modi, it has leverage to go beyond certain limits, and the BJP has used that leverage to expose the deep nexus for the domestic constituency.”
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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