The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday accused former Congress president Sonia Gandhi of having connections with an organisation funded by the George Soros Foundation, which has supported the idea of Kashmir as an independent nation.
The ruling party said in a series of posts on X that this association shows the influence of foreign entities in India’s internal affairs.
Despite the US dismissing BJP’s allegations of backing attempts to destabilise India, party MP Nishikant Dubey said he would ask 10 questions to Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha on the issue.
He claimed that the media portal Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and Hungarian-American businessman have joined forces with the opposition to damage India’s economy and tarnish the Modi government.
The BJP claimed that Sonia Gandhi, as co-president of the Forum of Democratic Leaders in Asia Pacific (FDL-AP) Foundation, is connected to an organisation funded by the George Soros Foundation.
“Notably, the FDL-AP Foundation has expressed their views that treat Kashmir as a separate entity,” PTI quoted the the party as saying.
“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,” it said.
The BJP also alleged that Sonia Gandhi’s chairmanship of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation resulted in a partnership with the George Soros Foundation, “displaying the influence of foreign funding on Indian organisations.”
“Rahul Gandhi’s press conference on Adani was live telecast by George Soros-funded OCCRP, which Gandhi used as a source to criticise Adani. It shows nothing but their strong and dangerous relationship and highlights their attempts to derail the Indian economy. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has publicly acknowledged George Soros as an ‘old friend’. It’s something truly noteworthy,” the saffron party alleged.
The BJP’s allegations come after it claimed on Thursday that the US “deep state” colluded with OCCRP and Rahul Gandhi to damage India’s image.
The US on Saturday rejected BJP’s allegations that organisations funded by its State Department and elements in the American “deep state” were behind attempts to destabilise India through targeted attacks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and business tycoon Gautam Adani.
A spokesperson at the US embassy described the allegations as “disappointing” and asserted that the US government has been a champion of media freedom around the world.
Reacting to the US embassy’s statement, BJP MP Dubey said, “Yesterday I read the statement of the US embassy officials again and again. They admitted that the US government funds OCCRP and Soros’ foundation also funds it.”
The job of OCCRP and Soros is to ruin India’s economy and defame the Modi government in connivance with opposition leaders, he said in his post on X in Hindi.
With PTI inputs
