New Delhi: The BJP has accused Rahul Gandhi of trying to weaken the Narendra Modi government with help from foreign groups. It made these claims after the Congress organised the Bharat Summit 2026 in Hyderabad.
Foreign guests questioned
BJP leader Ashish Usha Agarwal said Rahul Gandhi’s politics had gone beyond normal opposition and become an “anti-national agenda”. He questioned why foreign speakers, including former Ecuador foreign minister Guillaume Long, were invited to the summit.
“By inviting individuals like Guillaume Long, is Rahul Gandhi seeking international backing for an anti-India agenda?” Agarwal asked in a post on X.
The BJP also referred to money allegedly received by the Centre for Economic and Policy Research from a group linked to George Soros. It also mentioned ED searches in Bengaluru in March 2025 related to suspected foreign-exchange law violations involving Open Society Foundations. The party says these links raise questions about the summit, as reported by The New Indian Express.
BJP’s Main Allegation
Senior BJP leader Sudhanshu Trivedi questioned the presence of Guillaume Long and former Amnesty International chief Salil Shetty. He referred to Shetty’s 2019 comments on Kashmir and asked whether the summit was for discussion or for spreading anti-India views.
“Is Bharat Summit 2026 in Hyderabad a platform for dialogue or an attempt to provide another international platform to take up anti-India narratives?” Trivedi asked.
BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari made a stronger charge. He said Rahul Gandhi was acting like a “puppet of foreign powers” and wanted to remove the Modi government with foreign support.
“Rahul Gandhi wants regime change with foreign help,” Bhandari alleged. He claimed the Congress was bringing foreign networks into Indian politics to create instability.
The BJP also questioned the participation of Patrick Gaspard, a former president of the Open Society Foundations.
Congress’s Position
The Congress says the summit brought together experts from 70 countries. It says they discussed the changing world order, India’s foreign policy, cooperative federalism, and election integrity.
The controversy grew after Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said 115 of 315 foreign speakers cleared by the Ministry of External Affairs were either denied entry or had their visas cancelled. The MEA said visa decisions are a “sovereign function” of any government.