 "US State Department, 'deep state' trying to destabilise India: BJP on OCCRP")
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has alleged that the United States (US) State Department and "deep state" elements in the US are working to destabilise India in collaboration with a group of investigative journalists and opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, Reuters reported on Friday.
The allegations come unexpectedly, given the strong ties New Delhi and Washington have forged over the past two decades, said the report. It also highlighted that both countries have expressed a commitment to strengthening their relationship further, despite occasional disagreements and irritants.
Gandhi's Congress party has utilised articles by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), which "singularly focused" on the Adani Group and its alleged connections to the government, to criticise Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP said on Thursday.
Last month, Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani and seven others were indicted in the US for allegedly being part of a $265 billion bribery scheme involving Indian officials — allegations that the Adani Group has described as "baseless". The Reuters report highlighted that OCCRP articles have also alleged that state-sponsored hackers in India used Israeli-made Pegasus spyware to target government critics. The government has previously denied both allegations.
The BJP has, in the past, accused Gandhi, OCCRP, and 92-year-old billionaire financier-philanthropist George Soros of attempting to undermine Modi.
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On Thursday, the BJP referred to a French media report that claimed OCCRP was funded by the US Agency for International Development (US AID) and "other deep state figures" such as Soros.
"The Deep State had a clear objective to destabilise India by targeting Prime Minister Modi," the BJP said in a series of posts on social media platform X.
"It has always been the US State Department behind this agenda...," it said, adding, "... OCCRP has served as a media tool for carrying out a deep state agenda."
Sambit Patra, BJP national spokesperson and lawmaker, reiterated these accusations during an official media briefing on Thursday.
"A French investigative media group... has revealed that... 50 per cent of OCCRP's funding comes directly from the US State Department," Patra said, adding, "OCCRP has served as a media tool for carrying out a deep state agenda."
The Reuters report said that at the time of publishing, the US State Department, US AID, Soros, and the Congress party had not responded to its requests for comment. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) also did not comment on the ruling party's accusations against the US State Department, it added.
For its part, the OCCRP reportedly stated that it is an independent media outlet and not affiliated with any political party.
"The US government, while providing some funding to OCCRP, has no say in our editorial processes and no control over our reporting," OCCRP said in a statement.
The government has been under increased scrutiny following the US indictment of Gautam Adani. Opposition leaders have accused Prime Minister Modi of shielding Adani, and Parliament sessions were repeatedly disrupted last week as opposition lawmakers demanded a debate on the issue.
For their part, both the BJP and the Adani Group have denied the accusations.