BJP Targets Rahul Gandhi Alleging George Soros Link, Congress Cries Foul

The BJP and the Congress traded blows in a verbal battle in Parliament Thursday, after the former accused Rahul Gandhi of being a “traitor of the highest order” in an attack naming him, “some agencies of America” and billionaire George Soros in a “dangerous triangle trying to destabilise India”.

The Congress responded swiftly and strongly, condemning the attack on Mr Gandhi and also calling out BJP MP Nishikant Dubey for “most derogatory words” targeting Rahul Gandhi and and the party.

Mr Dubey’s furious initial attack prompted chaos and a temporary adjournment of the Lok Sabha, and a similar ruckus consumed the Rajya Sabha after another BJP MP, Sudhanshu Trivedi, alleged “suspicious and conspicuous attacks on national interest from abroad”.

The concerted attack followed a news report by French publication Mediapart that claimed “hidden links between a giant of investigative journalism (referring to the OCCRP, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, an Amsterdam-based news network) and the US government”.

Mediapart said the OCCRP, which calls itself “the largest investigative reporting organization on Earth”, is financially and structurally dependent on the United States. It is also funded, Mediapart said, by Mr Soros’ Open Foundation, as also from European countries like France and Sweden.

The BJP claimed, as it has often, the OCCRP has published news reports “targeting” India, and that these are then used by the Congress to criticise the ruling party and Indian business interests, such as the Covaxin, the home-made COVID-19 vaccine questioned on the basis of an OCCRP report.

Also red-flagged were OCCRP reports on Pegasus, the Israeli-made spyware that the opposition had alleged was being used by the Indian government to spy on rival political leaders and critics.  

In the case of the vaccine, doubts were dismissed after a World Health Organization greenlight. In the case of the Pegasus claim, a technical committee found no conclusive evidence to back the allegations.

BJP’s Attack

BJP MP Sambit Patra set the ball rolling this morning with a heated press conference in which he declared, “In this triangle… on one side George Soros from America (and) some agencies of America and, on the other side is a big news portal named OCCRP …” Mr Patra said.

George Soros is a controversial figure in India, with the right wing accusing him of funding anti-India elements and supporting regime change across the world to push the West’s agenda.

And, over the past several months, the BJP has linked the Congress to Mr Soros, and to criticisms of the government – on issues like Pegasus and Covaxin – based on reports by the OCCRP.

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“The last, and most important side, is Rahul Gandhi – a traitor of the highest order. I am not scared to say this word… I don’t have any hesitation in calling the Leader of the Opposition a traitor.”

Mr Patra accused Mr Gandhi of betraying India and claimed he follows OCCRP directives.

“OCCRP is a global media agency and crores of people read what they publish. Open Society Foundation is a big funder… it is George Soros’s foundation. Such agencies work for the interest of the people who fund them and Rahul Gandhi betraying the whole country…” he added.

That charge was picked up and repeated by the BJP’s Nishikant Dubey in the Lok Sabha, triggering vociferous protests from the Congress. Mr Dubey accused the Congress of “conspiring with foreign forces” to derail the government because of their “hatred” for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

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“George Soros routinely conspires to derail economies of other countries. He was the force behind the closure of the Bank of England in 1991. He accrued benefits of over Rs 6 billion from this. Today, he wants to derail the Indian economy,” Mr Dubey claimed.

Mr Dubey, nearly drowned out by shouting Congress MPs and his BJP colleagues thumping their desks in approval, also demanded Mr Gandhi be investigated for meeting with American lawmakers like Ilhan Omar, who are vocal critics of Prime Minister Modi and his administration.

“The Congress must answer… what transpired in meetings with those who have a history of peddling anti-India agenda on Rahul Gandhi’s foreign tours,” he said.

Congress Hits Back

The Congress, meanwhile, bemoaned the “most unfortunate incident”.

“The Honourable Speaker allowed Nishikant Dubey to speak during Zero Hour. During this time, the most derogatory words were used against the LoP and the Wayanad MP (Priyanka Gandhi Vadra), as well as the entire Congress party, which is unacceptable,” senior leader KC Venugopal said. 

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Congress MP Shashi Tharoor then slammed Mr Dubey and his “outrageous statement”.

“No 1, you cannot attack people in a defamatory manner. No 2, you cannot take anyone’s name without giving them notice in writing in advance, and No 3, you cannot assault parliamentary privilege.”‘

“He violated all those three rules and he was allowed to go on speaking and ranting for quite some time… so we objected to that. The House was initially adjourned. We went to see the Speaker and we said this has to be expunged from the record. The person must apologise,” Mr Tharoor told reporters.

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“That has still not happened…this is obviously a waste of parliamentary time and it is a waste of the public’s and the taxpayer’s time. It is really shocking…” he said.

With input from agencies

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