Jaipur, Dec 5 (IANS): BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi raised an issue in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday regarding a report by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP). He stated that every time a session of Parliament is in session, a report from abroad emerges with the intent to tarnish the image of the country.
After Trivedi raised the issue, political rhetoric intensified.
Rajasthan BJP's State General Secretary and MLA Jitender Gothwal said: "You will see that for the past 10 years, the opposition, led by Rahul Gandhi, has been following a policy of criticising India whenever they go abroad."
He continued: "Before the commencement of a session of Parliament, foreign powers that want to weaken our country, along with the Congress and its allied parties, bring forward anti-India agendas, and then attempt to defame India. Rahul Gandhi himself tries to tarnish the country's image while abroad, in order to damage the reputation of the parties working with the BJP."
MLA Gothwal further stated: "Before the Parliament session begins, various issues are misrepresented. This time, Congress leaders are pushing their agenda to defame the Indian economy and the country's industrialists. However, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, their attempts will fail. I am fully confident that India is progressing the fastest in the world and is leading globally. At the same time, it is exposing the truth of the Congress party to the public."
The Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), which claims to be an independent entity working against organised crime and corruption, saw its reputation and global credibility "shattered" after a revealing investigative report by the prominent French newspaper Mediapart.
The report exposed the network's funding sources and its blatant efforts to target and discredit foreign governments to advance its own and its financiers' interests. After the revelations about OCCRP's alleged ties with the US Department of State, USAID, and investors like George Soros, the organisation faced intense criticism from both the Indian government and the BJP.