Sam Pitroda Denies Foreign Funding Charge, BJP Recalls "Hua Toh Hua" Remark

Sam Pitroda, the Congress party's main man abroad, has dismissed allegations of foreign funding and overseas influence on the party as "bogus" and dared the BJP to show evidence instead of circulating photographs and making what he termed "manufactured claims".

Pitroda came to his party's defence after the BJP alleged the Opposition forces have alleged ties to foreign entities and elements critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He specifically rejected claims linking him and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi to billionaire investor George Soros, who has repeatedly figured in the BJP's allegations of foreign influence on the Opposition.

"How could you show a picture of Sam Pitroda or Rahul Gandhi with George Soros, whom we have never met? You show that photograph and then you send it to everybody, including my own family. Shame on you," he said.

Pitroda and the BJP also got into a fight over the 1984 anti-Sikh riots following the release of Sonia Gandhi's memoir yesterday.

"It is all bogus, lies. Nobody has ever given any money. I will not take money from any foreign donors to distort my democracy or to attack anybody, including my prime minister," Pitroda told reporters.

Pitroda said their rivals have been using photographs of Congress leaders with random people abroad to suggest associations that did not exist. "Some of these people have no shame in lying and manipulating information. There is no pressure, no money and no advice from abroad," Pitroda, who leads the party's foreign outreach unit Indian Overseas Congress, told reporters.

He said interactions with academics and other public figures overseas should not be treated as evidence of foreign interference. "But we talk to intellectuals. It is important to recognise that we are really not into any of these issues related to foreign funding or anything. Before saying anything, prove it to me."

The BJP has often attacked Congress Rahul Gandhi over his trips abroad, asserting that these overseas engagements served as platforms to malign the country and get external intervention against a democratically elected government.

BJP MP Nishikant Dubey has separately raised questions about Rahul Gandhi's 2018 Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage and the Congress's contacts with the communist power in China. In a post on X, he has asked whether Rahul Gandhi met two Chinese ministers during the journey, who arranged the alleged meetings and what was discussed. He also sought details of people purportedly sent to China under an exchange programme following a 2008 agreement between the Congress and the communist neighbour.

सवाल 1. राहुल गांधी जी आप जब 2018 में कैलाश मानसरोवर की यात्रा में गए थे तो चीन के दो कौन से मंत्री से आपकी मुलाक़ात हुई थी? 2. 2008 के @INCIndia तथा कम्युनिस्ट पार्टी ऑफ चीन के साथ समझौते के बाद 2018 तक अदला बदली कार्यक्रम के तहत किन 200 लोगों को आपने चीन भेजा है? उनके नाम व पता क्या हैं?

— Dr Nishikant Dubey (@nishikant_dubey) November 9, 2026

Describing the "foreign hand" charge as a recurring political device, Pitroda said the Opposition INDIA bloc's legitimacy came from Indian voters and not international organisations. "The INDIA bloc does not take dictation from foreign entities, nor does it require external validation. Our legitimacy comes straight from the soil of India."

The BJP has demanded that Rahul Gandhi and the Congress disclose details of the foreign engagements rather than dismiss the allegations as political attacks.

Since Sonia Gandhi's memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, came out yesterday, the ruling party has revived its criticism of Pitroda over his remarks on the 1984 anti-Sikh violence after the assassination of former prime minister Indira Gandhi. BJP national spokesperson RP Singh referred to Pitroda's widely criticised "hua toh hua" remark and accused the Congress leadership of refusing to offer the Sikh community an unconditional apology. He said the killings could not be treated as an administrative failure and cited former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's statement that "when a big tree falls, the Earth shakes".

Singh then targeted the Congress over Operation Blue Star, alleging that the party was trying to rewrite the history of the army operation at the Golden Temple and the violence that followed. He said "crocodile tears cannot wash away the bloodstains of 1984".