After a two-day hiatus, the winter session of Parliament descended into chaos again on Thursday, this time with the ruling BJP targeting opposition leader Rahul Gandhi and the Congress, accusing them of being part of a plan to “derail” India’s economy. and “impedes” its democracy.
Senior BJP MP Nishikant Dubey raised the issue in the Lok Sabha, alleging that there is a “dangerous triangle”, which includes American billionaire investor George Soros, the global investigative news network OCCRP (Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project) and the Congress and its leader Rahul Gandhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was trying to “derail India’s success story”.
In the Rajya Sabha, MP Sudhanshu Trivedi raised the issue, BJP leaders said the Congress had blocked Parliament based on various reports published by OCCRP, the Pegasus spying wing, developed on the effectiveness of the Covid-19 vaccine. India and the Hindenburg Report against the Gautam Adani Group. Dubey said many of these media reports coincided with India’s Parliament session.
Both the Houses of the Parliament were adjourned without taking any major action due to the opposition party’s opposition.
The Congress called the BJP’s allegations part of “a pattern followed by the BJP to prevent the party and its leadership from raising important issues, particularly the allegations against the Adani Group”. It also means that Thursday’s standoff also means that Gandhi cannot raise the violence claimed by Hindu groups over a Mughal-era mosque in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal.
Congress MPs wearing black jackets with stickers reading ‘Modi Adani Ek Hai’ and ‘Adani Safer Hai’ arrived in Parliament on the same day as leaders of other parties in India, the BJP alleged a global conspiracy. Congress whip Manickam Tagore claimed that this “unique” protest by the party had “stirred the entire BJP and government machinery into action to raise wild allegations”.
However, the move also drew a rap from Speaker Om Birla, who cited Rule 349 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct in the Lok Sabha to ask MPs not to sport lapel pins and badges other than the tricolor in Parliament.
Tagore said it was not the first time that Dubey had made such “baseless” allegations to divert attention from real issues. “People will understand this pattern … they have no intention of running Parliament smoothly.”
During last year’s monsoon session, under the previous Modi government, Dubey had told the Congress, news portal NewsClick and two journalists that it was tied to China by an “umbilical cord” and accused the party of being “anti-national” with “anti-nationalism”. Creating chaos by dividing the country.
Congress MPs asked why Dubey was allowed to speak before Gandhi, who wanted to raise the Sambhal violence. On Wednesday, the opposition leader was stopped by Uttar Pradesh police from going towards Sambhal.
Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal said: “We want to lift the travel ban on LoP. Speaker allowed Nishikant Dubey to speak… Abusive words were used against LoP, Wayanad MP (Priyanka Vadra Gandhi) and entire Congress… In the history of Parliament, this kind of insult Comments were never used.”
Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Dubey said: “If the OCCRP puts up a report, the Congress party immediately tweets it. There are three issues, the first is Pegasus, when Parliament did not function properly… Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and (Shiv Sena-UBT leader) Sanjay Raut tweeted … The second Hindenburg … in which (Congress leader) Jairam Ramesh, Sanjay Raut Raut tweeted… The third vaccine issue.Parliament in each case Dubey said that he could not walk.
Dubey then named some people and asked what Gandhi’s relationship was with them. “You meet those who want to create Khalistan, who want to separate Kashmir.”
Angry Congress MPs reached the House over Dubey’s statement. Congress leaders initially persuaded members to return to their seats so that the party could raise issues it wanted. But Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi started responding to Dubey’s allegations after the Speaker called for an end to the Sambhal violence – again creating an uproar in the House.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiran Rijiju blamed the opposition party and said, “They came to Parliament wearing colorful clothes and started a fashion show wearing the same clothes outside…Such disruptions do not achieve anything; They won’t get votes.
Vadra shared a video on X of opposition MPs protesting inside Parliament, saying: “The people of the country want the Adani mega scam to be discussed in Parliament… but Narendra Modi and the government keep running away.”
In the Rajya Sabha, BJP MP Trivedi demanded a probe into “foreign interference” in India’s affairs and “attacks on India’s economic, moral and social interests”. He cited a news report from a French publication – which he did not name – that the OCCRP receives foreign government funding and that its focus was on India. “Besides receiving foreign funds, they also have ties to George Soros,” Trivedi said.
He appeared to be referring to a MediaPart report that OCCRP, which claims to be the world’s largest organized network of investigative media, hid the extent of its ties to the US government.
After Trivedi finished his address, Rajya Sabha Speaker Jagdeep Dhankhar said that he had raised a serious issue and opposition MPs would be allowed to present their views. Even though opposition MPs protested, he said, ‘We cannot allow the biggest democracy to be rendered inactive by the deep state.
In a statement, OCCRP denied the allegations raised about its funding and the suggestion that “we are influenced by our donors.” OCCRP also said that as a donor-funded organization, it has built safeguards into its editorial process and has always been open about its funding. “All these documents are publicly available,” the statement said.
Even outside Parliament, the BJP repeated its accusations against the Congress and Gandhi. Addressing a press conference, BJP MP Sambit Patra described the Congress leader as a “traitor of the highest order”. “I have no hesitation in saying (that),” he said, “OCCRP and Rahul Gandhi are two bodies and one soul.”
Patra’s comments prompted the Congress to write a letter to Speaker Birla, demanding “stern action” for the BJP MP’s “extremely derogatory language”. Patra’s conduct was a “flagrant violation” of the dignity and morality expected of an MP, Tagore said.