The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has found a new counter to the Congress’s ongoing protests over the Adani issue, taking a strong stance against the opposition party by leveraging reports from the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP). The BJP, in a move to intensify its attack on Congress, held a press conference on Thursday and raised the OCCRP issue in both Houses of Parliament, calling Congress leader Rahul Gandhi a “traitor” and an “anti-national.” This marks the BJP’s most direct and harshest attack on Gandhi since he became the Leader of the Opposition.
BJP leaders have accused the Congress of using reports from the OCCRP to fuel its political agenda, especially regarding the Adani controversy. According to sources, the BJP plans to highlight the OCCRP’s involvement in pushing what they term “unsubstantiated and wild claims” in Parliament during the upcoming debate on the Constitution. Despite the Adani issue not being relevant to the debate on the Constitution, the BJP is preparing to counter Congress’s allegations with the OCCRP issue if the opposition persists with its protests.
The BJP’s strategy hinges on accusing a “covert deep state network” of targeting India through the OCCRP, an organization that has published multiple reports focusing on the country. The ruling party asserts that the reports, particularly those related to issues like the Pegasus spyware case, have been categorically dismissed by India’s Supreme Court, and yet, the Congress and other members of the opposition bloc INDIA have used these reports to advance their political narratives.
Further fuelling the BJP’s allegations, a French investigative publication, ‘Mediapart,’ recently published a report claiming that the OCCRP is funded by the U.S. government and organizations linked to billionaire George Soros. This revelation has added fuel to the BJP’s accusations, which allege that the Congress party has misused compromised agencies to damage India’s growth story and further its own political objectives.
In response, Congress leaders have vehemently denied the BJP’s claims and condemned the attacks. The party has been staging protests led by Rahul Gandhi outside Parliament this week, demanding a thorough investigation into the Adani issue. As the political battle intensifies, the focus will remain on how both parties utilize these issues in the coming weeks, with the BJP planning to escalate the OCCRP matter during crucial parliamentary discussions.
