Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Dec 5: The BJP on Thursday launched a frontal attack on the Congress both inside and outside Parliament accusing the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi “a traitor of the highest order” to be in alleged league with the American billionaire George Soros engaged in anti-national activities and destabilising the Narendra Modi government in the country.
While the ball was set rolling in the morning when the BJP spokesman and MP Sambit Patra at a press conference branded “Rahul Gandhi and George Soros are one” in counter to the Congress campaign of “Modi and Adani are one,” inside Parliament the BJP and the Congress traded blows in a verbal battle 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.”
Mr Patra’s remarks came after French newspaper Mediapart published a report on December 2, titled ‘The hidden links between a giant of investigative journalism and the US government’ which alleged that Soros funded global media investigative agency Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), an Amsterdam-based news network. Quoting Mediapart, the BJP leader claimed that OCCRP received substantial funding from Soros’s Open Society Foundation and said “OCCRP appeared to align with Soros’s interests and America’s deep state.”
The Congress responded swiftly and strongly, condemning the attack on Mr Gandhi and also calling out another BJP MP, Nishikant Dubey, for “most derogatory words” targeting Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the newly elected Wayanad MP, and the entire opposition party.
The chaos that followed Mr Dubey’s furious attack prompted chaos in, and a temporary adjournment of, the Lok Sabha. A similar ruckus consumed the Rajya Sabha after the BJP’s Sudhanshu Trivedi alleged “suspicious and conspicuous attacks on national interest from abroad.”
Mediapart said the OCCRP, which calls itself “the largest investigative reporting organization on Earth,” was 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 has claimed the OCCRP has been publishing news reports “targeting” India that 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 the opposition 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 green light. In the case of the Pegasus claim, a technical committee found no conclusive evidence to back the allegations.
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 frequently linked the Congress and Mr Gandhi to Mr Soros, and to criticisms of the Modi government – on issues like the Pegasus spyware scandal and the Covaxin COVID-19 vaccine – based on reports by the OCCRP.
Mr Patra at the press conference said, “In this dangerous 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. 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.
“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 ₹ 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 Mr 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.
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.
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. “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.
Levelling serious charges against Rahul Gandhi, Mr Patra had said, “If OCCRP is affected, Rahul Gandhi cries. If Rahul Gandhi cries, OCCRP gets hurt. They are two bodies but with one soul. George Soros and Rahul Gandhi are one. Whatever Soros wants to fulfil his agenda, Rahul Gandhi does the same. Both want to harm the country’s interests,” Patra said.
Patra claimed that certain forces wanted to break India and break its unity and did not want to see the country progress. “OCCRP is a global media agency. Such agencies work for the interest of the people who fund them. Rahul Gandhi is betraying the whole country. OCCRP dictates and Rahul Gandhi follows,” he alleged. He also alleged that people and groups who harbour anti-Indian sentiments “loved” Rahul Gandhi.
“It’s notable that Rahul Gandhi consistently finds himself at the forefront of issues that compromise national interests. Moreover, he attracts admiration from individuals and groups that have anti-India sentiments. All anti-Indians and all those who hate India love Rahul Gandhi,” the BJP leader said.
“This raises questions about OCCRP’s independence, as 70 per cent of its funding comes from a single source. Consequently, OCCRP truly appears to align with the interests of George Soros and the deep state in America,” he said.
