Hungarian-born US investor and philanthropist George Soros. AFP.

New Delhi: India’s ruling party, BJP, launched a scathing attack on billionaire investor George Soros and accused him of targeting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the country’s democratic system.

Addressing a press conference in national capital Delhi, Union Minister of India and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Smriti Irani said: “This war is being mounted against India and what stands between the war and India’s interests is Modi.”

Soros wants to destroy Indian democracy

Lambasting Soros, Irani alleged that he wants to destroy Indian democracy and wanted some “hand-picked” people to run the government in the country.

“George Soros wants a government that is pliable to his needs for making his nefarious plans successful. It is evident from his statements that he has declared funding of over one billion dollars particularly to ‘target’ leaders like PM Modi, which is significant,” she said.

The minister asserted that the ruling government in India has defeated foreign powers earlier too and will continue to do so.

“Soros had announced that he will target India’s democratic system and Modi will be at the centre of his attack,” Irani said.

“Soros wants an order in the country which will protect his and not India’s interests,” she said.

Soros seeks to demonise Indian democracy

Irani said the remarks of Soros comes at a time when India rises to become the fifth largest economy in the world and when the country receives gratitude by global leaders including presidents of the US and France, and the UK Prime Minister for enabling employment not only in India but also in those three nations.

“The imperialist intentions of an entrepreneur are coming to light who seeks to demonise our democracy,” Irani said.

What did George Soros say?

In a speech at the Munich Security Conference on Thursday, Soros said PM Modi would “have to answer questions” from foreign investors and Parliament on allegations the Adani group is facing.

Between his nearly 42-minute speech Soros said the turmoil at Adani may open the door to a democratic revival in the country.

“(PM) Modi and business tycoon Adani are close allies; their fate is intertwined,” he claimed.

“Adani is accused of stock manipulation and his stock collapsed like a house of cards. Modi is silent on the subject, but he will have to answer questions from foreign investors and in Parliament,” he said, without offering any evidence for his claim.

“This will significantly weaken Modi’s stranglehold on India’s federal government and open the door to push for much needed institutional reforms,” he said.

“I may be naive, but I expect a democratic revival in India,” Soros said.

His speech drew sharp reactions.

‘India’s enemies are many: George Soros leads the pack’

Kanchan Gupta, senior adviser to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, said: “Face behind repeated ‘regime change’ attempts in India with collaborators paid by The Open Society Foundations stands exposed.”

“India’s enemies are many: George Soros leads the pack. Democracy in India is strong, resilient. 2024 is not too far away and Soros will eat crow again,” Gupta tweeted.

Who is George Soros?

92-year-old Soros is a hedge fund manager who is known to broke the Bank of England after he shorted the British currency (pound). He is said to have made a made a profit of $1 billion.

The Hungarian-American businessman’s net worth as of 17 February, 2023, is $6.7 billion, as per Forbes. Soros is among the wealthiest people in the world.

Slamming India and the government isn’t new for Soros. Addressing an event at World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos in 2020, he said nationalism was making headway and the “biggest setback” was seen in India.

With inputs from agencies

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