New Delhi, March 3 (IANS) In a fresh attack on Indian NGOs and western media for pushing a narrative against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP’s in-charge of National Information & Technology Department Amit Malviya on Monday hinted at the involvement of the deep state in these countries in the campaign.
In a message posted on a social media platform, Malviya wrote, “A whole eco-system in the West spanning governments, parliaments, media, think tanks, academia, journals, democracy and religious promotion organisations, and so on, have been targeting India ever since Modi and the BJP came to power in 2014.”
“Before the 2024 Lok Sabha election, the anti-Modi and anti-BJP campaign intensified. Established publications such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, the Economist, Le Monde, Deutsche Welle, etc. uniformly promoted a negative narrative about the state of democracy and minority issues in India, some even calling openly for voting against Modi for re-election. Some observers in India felt that this was a concerted campaign that also involved the deep state in these countries,” he said.
“It is not a coincidence that these attacks on Modi and the BJP government in Western circles were closely aligned with the political attacks by India’s opposition,” he said.
He also elaborated on how PM Modi’s government was forced to tighten up foreign funding of Indian NGOs due to their involvement in anti-national activities.
Malviya wrote, “The Open Society Foundation in particular, founded by magnate George Soros, has been blatantly active politically against Prime Minister Modi himself, and on the issue of democracy in India. Its link with USAID has now come out into the open.”
“The present government has in recent years greatly tightened up on foreign funding of Indian NGOs when evidence grew that they were engaging in political and social activities against the country’s interest, and also mobilising local populations against some development projects,” he wrote on X.
Last month, Malviya slammed the previous Joe Biden-led US government’s now-cancelled fund to influence “voter turnout in India”, calling it a tool for “external interference” in the country’s democratic process.
Hinting at an Opposition conspiracy to use American funds to interfere in Indian elections, Malviya said, “$21M for voter turnout? This definitely is external interference in India’s electoral process. Who gains from this? Not the ruling party for sure!”
Malviya’s comment followed a decision by the United States Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk, to cancel a $21 million US taxpayer-funded grant — under former President Joe Biden’s administration — meant to influence “voter turnout in India”.
–IANS
rch/uk