4 min readNew DelhiJun 29, 2023 09:50 AM IST
First published on: Jun 29, 2023 at 09:50 AM IST
Hitting out at the Congress over the registration of an FIR against its IT cell head Amit Malviya in Karnataka, the BJP on Wednesday alleged that Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi had “hobnobbed” with the people who wanted to destabilise the democratically elected government in India and that it would use “all the instruments available to them to stifle the democratic voices from political organisations that ideologically stand against the Congress party”.
Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi, Union minister Smriti Irani reiterated the ruling party’s charges that Gandhi had taken the support of people who are close to and financially supported by billionaire investor George Soros.
In February this year, after Soros targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that the turmoil over the Adani Group crisis could open the “door to a democratic revival” in the country, Irani had targeted Soros and alleged that Soros had “ill-intention to intervene in the democratic process of India and wanted a government that is pliable to his need”.
On Wednesday, she raised questions about Gandhi’s meetings during his recent US visit. “The question that has been left unanswered by the Congress is this: Is it true that Rahul Gandhi met Sunita Vishwanath during his trip to the US? The question is when it is known to every Indian what George Soros intends to do, why is Gandhi hobnobbing with those who are funded by him? It is also evident that it is not the only Soros connection. Even in Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra in Karnataka, the global vice president of the Open Society Foundation funded by George Soros was found accompanying Gandhi,” Irani said, flaunting pictures from Gandhi’s US visit.
Vishwanath is an Indian-American activist who has worked in women’s and human rights organisations.
Irani also attacked Gandhi for the involvement of Tanzeem Ansari of the Islamic Circle of North America in hosting a programme of the Indian diaspora during his visit, alleging that Ansari has an organisational link with the Jamaat-e-Islami. “What is extremely distressing is his (Ansari’s) link with the Islamic Circle of North America. Those in the public domain who will research how the registration process for NRI interaction with Rahul Gandhi in New York ensued will find contact of Tanzeem Ansari – he has an organisational link with Jamaat-e-Islami,” the minister said.
Irani cited a US House of Representatives resolution passed in February 2019 and said it had expressed concern about the threat posed to democracy by theocratic groups operating in South Asia. The BJP leader added that a part of the resolution had highlighted the affiliation between the Islamic Circle of North America and the Jamaat-e-Islami.
In an apparent reference to the FIR against Malviya in Congress-ruled Karnataka, Irani claimed her party was “in receipt of information with regards to an FIR against a position taken by the BJP with regards to Rahul Gandhi’s US visit”.
“It is expected that the Congress party given its draconian past will leverage any instrument available to it to stifle those who voice an opinion against the Gandhi family,” Irani added.
The Karnataka Police registered an FIR against Malviya for “promoting enmity within groups” and “instigating people” by posting a video allegedly mocking Gandhi on social media. The case was registered following a complaint from Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee member Ramesh Babu in connection with a tweet posted by Malviya recently, the police said on Wednesday.
Smriti Irani cited a US House of Representatives resolution passed in February 2019 and said it had expressed concern about the threat posed to democracy by theocratic groups operating in South Asia (File) 
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