BJP only quoting media report, up to U.S. State Department to clarify on OCCRP allegations: Sudhanshu Trivedi

BJP accuses U.S. State Department of funding OCCRP, calls for clarification; State Department denies allegations, emphasizes media freedom.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday (December 9, 2024) said the allegations made by the party on the U.S. State Department with regard to the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) was based on the media report by French publication Mediapart and that it was up to the U.S. State Department to clarify.

“In this context, during our presser on this issue, we had quoted a media report by a French publication, published in Sarajevo in which it was made clear that the OCCRP project was funded partially by the U.S. State Department and by George Soros. It is therefore incumbent on them [U.S. State Department] to clarify whether what has been said in the report is correct or not,” said Rajya Sabha MP Sudhanshu Trivedi.

“Therefore the U.S. State Department should clarify whether or not they are involved in such activities and if they are not, then they should withdraw their support from such OCCRP organisations,” he said.

He added that “the last election was the only election in the history of India, where for the first time a foreign government had alleged interference in our electoral process, it was the Russian Government that had made those allegations, in the middle of our Lok Sabha polls.”

The BJP has been raising the issue of deep state and other actors trying to destabilise the Modi government after a media report on OCCRP and its activities was published by French publication Mediapart.

The U.S. State Department had, on Saturday (December 7, 2024), issued a statement as a response to the BJP’s allegations. “It is disappointing that the ruling party in India would make these kinds of accusations,” said the State Department as a response to BJP’s accusations.

“The U.S. Government works with independent organisations on programming that supports professional development and capacity building training for journalists,” a spokesperson of the U.S. Embassy in India said. “This programming does not influence the editorial decisions or direction of these organisations… The United States has long been a champion of media freedom around the world. A free and independent press is an essential component of any democracy, enabling informed and constructive debate and holding those in power accountable,” he added.