Uproar in Parl as BJP steps up attack on Congress over Soros link

Parliament failed to transact any legislative business on Monday with both Houses adjourning after the BJP accused Congress leader Sonia Gandhi of allegedly having links with US-based billionaire George Soros-funded organisation, which is involved in “anti-India” activities.

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The ruling BJP is all set to push ahead with its one nation, one election promise with the Central Government likely to table the related Bill in the ongoing winter session of Parliament.

The ruling party has claimed Sonia Gandhi’s connection with Forum of Democratic Leaders in Asia-Pacific (FDL-AP), funded by the George Soros Foundation, which has “backed” the idea of Kashmir as an “independent nation”.

The BJP intensified its attack on the Congress, demanding Sonia to disclose her role as the “co-president” in the FDL-AP, and ruling party chief JP Nadda called for a discussion in the Rajya Sabha on the issue, asserting it was a matter of internal and external security. The Congress dismissed the allegations, accusing the BJP of putting at stake India’s ties with another country to divert attention from the charges against Adani and continued its protests for a JPC probe against the business tycoon.

The charge against Sonia was led by Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju, who termed her alleged connection with Soros foundation “serious”.

Later in the Rajya Sabha, there was a fierce face-off between Nadda and LoP Mallikarjun Kharge. The BJP’s allegations against Sonia came just days after it had called Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi a “traitor of the highest order”, accusing him of conspiring to “destabilise” the country. The BJP had accused Rahul, Soros and the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), a global collective of investigative journalists, of forming a “dangerous triangle” and running a false narrative against the country.

Nadda alleged the FDL-AP “sees J&K as a separate entity and gets financial support from the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation”. Without naming Rahul, Nadda alleged the Congress leader goes abroad and speaks the language propagated by Soros back home, thereby attempting to destabilise India.

Kharge rose to refute the allegations, but before he could speak, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar asked both leaders to meet him in his chamber to resolve the logjam.

Outside Parliament, addressing a press conference, Sudhanshu Trivedi, BJP Rajya Sabha MP and party spokesperson, sought to know the Congress’ connection with the FDL-AP. “There is an organisation called Forum of Democratic Leaders in Asia-Pacific, and it has four co-chairs. Sonia Gandhi, as chairperson of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, is a co-chairperson of the FDL-AP. Soros has openly said he had invested $1 bn to destabilise the Modi government,” he claimed.

The Congress, meanwhile, dismissed all charges, with its MP Karti Chidambaram dubbing these “dark fantasies”.

The Lok Sabha, too, saw adjournments. When the House met at 11 am, opposition members tried to raise the Adani and farmers’ issues, they were not allowed and the House was adjourned.