Congress throws down the Soros gauntlet, as US, Mediapart call BJP’s bluff

Congress and its leaders are part of an international conspiracy to defame India, prime minister Narendra Modi and business tycoon Gautam Adani, BJP leader and union minister J.P. Nadda has alleged in Parliament.

A discussion on the meteoric rise of Gautam Adani, his indictment by a US court and his links with PM Modi has, however, been disallowed in both houses of Parliament. Arguably, a discussion would have given the BJP a chance to establish its allegation and Congress leaders to counter it.

However, a key reason why the BJP is shying away from a debate in Parliament is because its narrative is literally falling apart. And the Opposition party has been quick to scent the blood in the water — and go for the kill.

The BJP’s allegation was based on a report published in Mediapart, which pointed out that the OCCRP (Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project), a consortium of journalists and international media outlets, was also being funded by the US state department and various foundations funded by billionaire George Soros.

While the OCCRP, which has released several damning reports about the Adani Group’s practice of over-invoicing and under-invoicing and also on links of some of its dubious and anonymous investors, pointed out that the OCCRP website clearly acknowledged the donation from the US, the BJP found it tempting to accuse Congress leaders of being part of the conspiracy.

It alleged that the Congress party held press conferences to comment on the OCCRP’s reports, to “launch attacks on PM Modi, propagate false narratives, and disrupt the functioning of Parliament”.

Emboldened by the accusations against the ‘US deep state’ or US intelligence agencies by Donald Trump’s nominee for the FBI, Kash Patel, and Tulsi Gabbard, his nominee to head of the US National Intelligence Agency, the BJP official handles, MPs and spokespersons went on the offensive.

The US ‘deep state’ was behind the campaign to defame the Indian prime minister and Gautam Adani, they claimed. By consistently demanding an investigation into Adani, the Congress too was part of the conspiracy, they said.

The funding of the OCCRP projects came from the US government to enable the consortium to investigate crime and corruption in countries of interest to the US, yes — but these are mostly in South America. India does not figure in the list.

On Saturday, 7 December, the US Embassy described the BJP’s allegations as ‘disappointing’. The US state department went a step further and described the allegations as unfounded and misleading. A state department spokesperson rejected the BJP’s charge that it was part of any plan to undermine the leaders of the ruling party in India or to destabilise the country.

The French news outlet Mediapart, which the BJP had cited while making its own allegations, now said that it was the BJP that was spreading ‘fake news’.

In a statement issued on Sunday, 8 December, publisher and director of Mediapart Carine Fouteau said, ‘Mediapart firmly condemns the instrumentalisation of its recently published investigative article about the OCCRP by the Bharatiya Janata Party of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in order to serve BJP’s political agenda and attack press freedom.’

‘There are no facts available supporting the conspiracy theory promoted by BJP,’ Fouteau said, expressing solidarity with the ‘courageous Indian and international journalists who report and investigate in India’.

Journalist and Mediapart co-founder Edwy Plenel cited an article in the Wire, sharing this statement.

While the BJP has been silent on these developments and the Indian ministry of external affairs has refrained from commenting, the Congress on Tuesday, 10 December, took the bull by its horns after several days of disruption in the Rajya Sabha over this issue.

Party spokesperson Supriya Shrinate, while addressing a media briefing, dared the BJP to come clean on Gorge Soros-funded schemes and grants in India.

“If George Soros is running an anti-India agenda, then why are you not shutting him down? Why are you contributing to the UN Democracy Fund, which actually aids 68 of his projects around the world? Why have you contributed $900,000 in the last 8–10 years, becoming the fourth-largest donor and, most importantly, why are you even a part of such a fund that's giving money to Soros?” she asked the Modi government.

Soros, she claimed, came to India in 1999, when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was prime minister; but it was in 2014 that his grant programme started.

“His Open Society has a Soros Economic Development Fund. It has two big funds, which invested money in two big funds founded by Gaurav Hinduja and Shashank Rishyasringa, who were seemingly close to PM Modi and supported his demonetisation of currency… So, why is the PM sharing the stage with those who are funded by Soros?” she asked.

Shashank Rishyasringa is married to the granddaughter of Viren Shah, former treasurer of the BJP, and was also governor of West Bengal when Vajpayee led the government. Former BJP president L.K. Advani and Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis attended their wedding.

These are not some small fund operators, pointed out Shrinate. Axio, founded by these two entrepreneurs, has supported 40,000 businesses across the country and invested US$ 300 million in small businesses and startups, she added.

“If Soros is running an anti-India agenda, how is money from his funds flowing into Indian startups and businesses?

“The reality is the BJP has no proof of the silly allegations they have made, and they're hiding behind Soros because they need an alibi to save Adani,” she concluded.