PM Modi says ‘first House Session in 10 yrs with no fires lit by foreign spark’. What was he referring to?

The PM appeared to be referring to, among other things, the reports released by US-based short seller Hindenburg Research, which recently shut shop, against billionaire Gautam Adani; the Pegasus report on alleged tapping of phones; comments made by foreign celebrities on the 2020-21 farmers’ protest; and the release of a video showing women being paraded naked in conflict-torn Manipur.

The BJP has earlier too linked the same to the Parliament Sessions due at the time.

On January 25, 2023, Hindenburg released a report titled ‘Adani Group: How the World’s Third Richest Man is Pulling the Largest Con in Corporate History’. The report accused the business conglomerate of financial fraud and stock manipulation. This was six days before the Budget Session that starts on January 31 every year.

During the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address, on February 8, 2023, Rahul Gandhi questioned Adani’s “dramatic rise” under the Modi government.

The Adani Group dismissed the Hindenburg Report, calling it a conspiracy to bring down its share prices.

On August 10, 2024, Hindenburg Research released another India-related report saying that Madhabi Puri Buch, the chief of market regular SEBI – which was probing the charges against the Adani Group – and her husband Dhaval Buch had stakes in offshore funds used in the alleged Adani money siphoning scandal.

The Monsoon Session had wrapped up a day earlier, on August 9, after its original scheduled duration of July 22 to August 12 was curtailed.

The Buchs denied the allegation while SEBI said it had adequate internal mechanisms for addressing issues relating to conflict of interest.

On December 5, 2024, BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi linked these developments and others to Parliament Sessions, in a speech during Zero Hour in the Rajya Sabha. He repeated the same charge at a press conference on December 9.

He spoke about a report on farmers being released on February 3, 2021, days after the start of a Parliament Session. The same day, US pop star Rihanna had spoken out in favour of the farmers protesting on Delhi’s borders for a year. On February 4, climate activist Greta Thunberg was reported as supporting them.

Trivedi said: “Similarly, the Pegasus report was released on July 18, 2021, coinciding with the Monsoon Session of Parliament. The Hindenburg report was published on January 24, 2023, just before the Budget Session began on January 30, 2023. On January 17, 2023, the BBC released a documentary, coinciding with the Parliament Session that started on January 30, 2023.” He was referring to the BBC documentary on the Gujarat riots of 2002, which was blocked in India.

The BJP leader then referred to the Manipur video, saying “it surfaced on July 19, 2023, just as the Parliament Session was about to begin on July 20, 2023”.

“A report on the SEBI Chairperson was released in August 2024, during an ongoing Parliament Session. Most recently, on November 20, 2024, a report was published in the USA, just days before the Parliament Session began on November 25, 2024,” Trivedi said, his last claim being about the indictment of Adani in New York on allegations that the group paid bribes of $265 million to officials in India.

The Union Ministry of External Affairs had also joined issue over the farm protests, claiming that “vested interest groups” were trying to enforce their agenda through the same. “Some of these vested interest groups have also tried to mobilise international support against India. Instigated by such fringe elements, Mahatma Gandhi statues have been desecrated in parts of the world. This is extremely disturbing for India and for civilised society everywhere,” the MEA in a statement said.