Over the years, many have come to know the real face of Hungarian-born American George Soros. It was not without substantive reason that someone as responsible as S Jaishankar, the seasoned diplomat turned External Affairs Minister, described him as "old, rich, opinionated and dangerous".
Tesla founder and X (formerly Twitter owner) Elon Musk has initiated legal action against him for spreading fake information. Musk had called Soros as someone who hates humanity. Soros has also been ousted from the European Union.
That doesn't stop Soros from pursuing his not-so-hidden agenda, and try and create economic and political turbulence in parts of the world with the belief that with money he can buy command, or at least create confusion. About six months ago, he publicly declared that he disliked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and that though his thoughts may appear "foolish", he would do everything possible to see a regime change in India "to make democracy flourish again".
It is anybody's guess what he means and who and what kind of political system he is rooting for.
That was in the immediate aftermath of the Hindenburg report on Adani group companies. Adani companies' stock prices went on a downward spiral, and the Rahul Gandhi-led Congress, along with some other parties in the opposition, tried to force a washout of the Budget session of parliament. The Supreme Court began hearing the matter, constituted an expert committee headed by former Supreme Court Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre, and the Security and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and Enforcement Directorate began their own independent probe.
The expert committee didn't find any regulatory failure. The SEBI and ED found nothing incriminating against the Adani group.
On the contrary, the ED's findings are revealing. A recent news report in the Times of India said ED has so far gathered substantial intelligence against some Indian and foreign entities involved in seemingly "suspicious" activities in the Indian share market - some as early as November 2022 - related to the Hindenburg report and short selling positions taken by them. A few FPIs (Foreign Portfolio Investment), currently being investigated to ascertain their beneficial ownership, have been found to have taken short positions just two to three days before the Hindenburg report was released. Significantly, sources said most of these entities had never dealt in Adani shares and some were trading for the first time.
The SEBI will submit its report to the Supreme Court.
In the meantime, the Congress's campaign lost steam as the Supreme Court was directly monitoring the investigations. Adani companies continued to do well; after all their investments are good infrastructure projects. Investors' confidence in the Group's companies returned. The Congress's attempts to create panic and anger among people against the government with manufactured allegations like the 'Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) is in jeopardy' boomeranged on them because the LIC posted healthy returns.
The attempts by the so-called tool-kit network, involving international and domestic players, didn't quite fly. They either have not realised or are in denial about the fact that the Modi government doesn't buckle under pressure, least of all one initiated by vested interests.
In comes the George Soros-funded Open Society Foundation funded Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project or OCCRP with a report, which they called "fresh startling revelations on Adani group's corporate and ethical misconduct". A report that basically seems to be a rehash of the Hindenburg report and refers to issues that have long been settled after legal and judicial scrutiny. They perhaps hope that by repeatedly making charges, dead or otherwise, they could possibly sow seeds of suspicion among sections of people, put pressure on investigative agencies and create a negative buzz ahead of the Supreme Court hearing to have some kind of roving inquiring go on.
As soon as the OCCRP published its report with its media partners Financial Times and Guardian, the Congress party used it to target the Modi government and revive its defunct demand of a JPC.
But a tweet by the OCCRP on Thursday afternoon was most amusing, giving a peep into the collaboration and orchestration it had with Rahul Gandhi and the Congress. "In response to our latest investigation, @ Rahul Gandhi, a leader of India's largest party will hold a press conference about the Adani Group...It is scheduled for 5pm IST. Watch live". It also gave the YouTube link for Rahul Gandhi's press conference.
Rahul Gandhi had just landed in Mumbai to attend the 26-party INDIA meet to resolve their conflicting interests and chalk out a common strategy to counter Modi. But, he was in a tearing hurry to address the media not about the opposition meet but on the Hindenburg-OCCRP-Adani issue. That too when his alliance partner Sharad Pawar and some other leaders have been on record disagreeing with his and the Congress's course of action on the Hindenburg-Adani issue. That raises questions.
The Congress's de-facto boss didn't stop there. "These are raising very serious questions on Indian Prime Minister just before leaders of the G20 are coming here, they are going to be our guests and they are going to be asking the question, what is this special company, this company that is owned by a gentleman close to the Prime Minister. Why is it that in an economy like India, this gentleman is given a free ride? They are going to ask this question," he said. He was basically suggesting, even provoking heads of states of G20 nations arriving in New Delhi next week, to deviate from the official agenda and follow anarchist agenda of the tool-kit network.
Also, in that press conference Rahul Gandhi referred to a Taiwanese national (mentioned in the report) as "Chinese". That is either racial or open support for Beijing's policy on Taiwan.
Incidentally, all this came on a day the GDP figures rose to 7.8 per cent in the April-June quarter of current fiscal 2023-2024, compared to a growth of 6.1 per cent in the previous January-March quarter of fiscal 2022-23.
It is reported that the Soros family's Open Society Foundation annually earmarks around $1.5 billion (0ver Rs. 12,000 crore) to what they claim is upholding human rights and advancing democratic principles. It was Soros-funded French NGO Sherpa Association that filed a corruption case in France in 2018 against the 36-aircraft Rafale deal with India.
We know how their campaign on the Rafale issue failed and Rahul Gandhi had to submit a written unconditional apology in the Supreme Court.
The timing of the latest OCCRP report is curious.
Rahul Gandhi cited the upcoming G20 summit but he conveniently chose not to mention the INDIA grouping's two-day conclave in the luxurious confines of Grand Hyatt in Mumbai, where the Soros-funded OCCRP report was to provide ready ammunition against Modi government.
Another curious thing about the timing is the upcoming hearing in the Supreme Court hearing on Adani, where further deliberations would take place on the submission of SEBI's final report and the Expert Committee's report.
This happened in Pegasus, Rafale, the BBC documentary on PM Modi, Hindenburg-Adani and now OCCRP-Adani. They didn't succeed earlier and this time too, it is unlikely to be any different. However, in the process, they inadvertently exposed the orchestration and their collaborative players.
(Sanjay Singh is a senior journalist based in Delhi)
Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author.