- The BJP accuses the Foreign Ministry of funding a media group working to “destabilize” India.
- BJP says US ‘deep state’ and media group George Soros and Rahul Gandhi are working together.
- The media group OCCRP says it is independent despite US government funding.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party has accused the State Department and “deep state” elements in the United States of trying to destabilize India in collaboration with a group of investigative journalists and opposition leader Rahul Gandhi.
This accusation comes as a surprise, as New Delhi and Washington have established a strong relationship in the past two decades, and each has pledged to strengthen relations despite some disagreements and harassment.
Gandhi’s Congress party used Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) articles that “singularly focused” on the Adani group and its alleged closeness to the government to undermine Modi, the ruling party said on Thursday.
The group’s president, Gautam Adani, and seven others were indicted last month in the United States for being part of a $265 billion scheme to bribe Indian officials – allegations the group called “baseless.”
OCCRP articles also accused state-sponsored hackers in India of using Israeli-made Pegasus spyware to target government critics.
The government has previously denied both accusations.
The BJP had previously accused Gandhi, OCCRP and 92-year-old billionaire financier and philanthropist George Soros of attacking Modi.
On Thursday, it cited a French media report that said the OCCRP project was funded by USAID and “other deep state figures” such as Soros.
“The deep state had a clear goal of destabilizing India by targeting Prime Minister Modi,” the BJP said in a series of messages on Channel X.
“It was always the US State Department that was behind this agenda… OCCRP served as an information tool to implement the deep state’s agenda,” he added.
Sambit Patra, BJP spokesperson and MP, repeated the accusations at the party’s official press conference on Thursday.
“A French investigative media group revealed… that… 50% of the funding for the OCCRP project comes directly from the US State Department,” Batra said. “OCCRP has served as a media tool to carry out the deep state’s agenda.”
The State Department, US aid, Soros and the Congressional Party did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also did not respond to a request for comment on the ruling party’s accusations against the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
OCCRP said in a statement that it is an independent media outlet and is not affiliated with any political party.
“The U.S. government, while it provides some funding to OCCRP, has no say in our editorial operations and no control over our reporting,” she said.
The government has recently faced intense criticism over the US indictment of Gautam Adani, whom opposition leaders say Modi has always protected, and the country’s parliament was suspended several times last week as opposition lawmakers demanded debate on the issue.
Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party and Adani denied the accusations.