Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Sunday slammed the BJP after the US rejected the ruling party’s allegations that elements in the American “deep state” were behind attempts to destabilise India and said this “attack-dog” behaviour is an embarrassment to India.
The US on Saturday rejected the BJP’s allegations that organisations funded by the US State Department and elements in the American “deep state” were behind attempts to destabilise India through targeted attacks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and business tycoon Gautam Adani.
A spokesperson at the US embassy described the allegations as “disappointing” and asserted that the US government has been a champion of media freedom around the world.
The BJP alleged on Thursday that the US deep state colluded with the media portal OCCRP (Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project) and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to “damage” India’s image.
In a post in X, Tharoor said, “It’s clear the BJP neither understands democracy nor diplomacy. They are so blinded by petty politics that they forget the value of a free press and vibrant independent civil society organisations in a democracy, and they are oblivious to a ruling party’s responsibilities in maintaining good relations with key foreign countries.”
“This attack-dog behaviour is an embarrassment to India,” the former minister of state for external affairs said.
The BJP had cited Gandhi’s use of reports by OCCRP to attack the Adani Group and to accuse it of having closeness with the government.