Ban George Soros in India: Congress Party to Govt

India's main opposition Congress Party on Tuesday called on the Government to shut down all businesses and activities being funded by Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros.

"If George Soros is indulging in anti-India activities, if he is trying to destabilise the government, if he is involved in anti-establishment efforts, then why doesn't the government shut down his operations and activities in India? Why is George Soros being allowed to operate in India? His funding to start-ups, students, farmers and small businesses must cease," Supriya Shrinate, Spokesperson for the Congress, told a press conference at the party headquarters in New Delhi.

The opposition leader said that the government should write to the US authorities alerting them about Soros' activities.

“Inform the US how he has been trying to destabilise the Indian government. Tell them that the Indian authorities will be acting against Soros,” Shrinate stated.

The opposition politician claimed that Soros, through the Soros Economic Development Fund (SEDF), was operating two major funds in India, namely Aspada (known as Lightrock), which provides seed and early-stage capital to companies in India, focusing on education, logistics, healthcare, financial services, market linkages, and agricultural supply chains, and SONG, managed by Lightrock.

"Aspada has invested around $90 million in small businesses, agricultural projects, and start-ups. However, Aspada made its largest investments in two 'social impact' companies — Neogrowth and Capital Float. The founders of Capital Float, Gaurav Hinduja and Shashank Rishyasringa, have invested around $300 million in nearly 40,000 small businesses," she pointed out.

Presenting photographs of senior BJP politicians with the two Soros-backed venture capitalists, Shrinate questioned the ruling party over its links with the businessmen.

Further, she questioned as to why the Government was continuing to fund the UN Democracy Fund, which was known to be funding Soros-linked projects in numbers of countries.

"The George Soros-backed Open Society Foundation (OSF) funds projects in 68 countries through the UN Democracy Fund, which is overseen by the UN Secretary General. India is the fourth-largest donor to this fund, contributing around $900,000 over the past 9 years. Why did India donate this amount?" the opposition politician questioned.

Significantly, in 2021, the Home Ministry placed OSF on its watchlist for funding NGOs and groups not registered under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA).

Last week, the BJP ramped up its criticism of Rahul Gandhi and the outgoing Biden administration after French publication Mediapart revealed that the US State Department was a major funder of the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), a media group that has published several contentious reports targeting Adani and the Modi government.

"The Deep State had a clear objective to destabilise India by targeting Prime Minister Modi. It has always been the US State Department behind this agenda," BJP said in a social media post last week.

Meanwhile, the ongoing Winter Session of the Parliament has witnessed disruptions, with the BJP demanding a debate on links between Soros and Gandhi.

However, political sources told Sputnik India that the Congress Party has decided to take an "offensive" stance against the BJP over the Soros issue.

"George Soros would never be powerful enough to destabilise a big country like India. The close links between Soros and the Democratic Party are an open secret now," a journalist working at a Congress-owned newspaper told Sputnik India.

The source claimed that successive Indian administrations have treated Soros just like another businessman wanting to invest in the country.

"If Soros is so dangerous, he should be banned in India," the source concluded.

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