“Didn’t Know Modi Government Was So Feeble”

Source: ANI, PTI

Reacting to billionaire investor George Soros’ criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and questions on Hindenburg Research’s report on industrialist Gautam Adani, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said that he disagrees with most of what George Soros had said in the past, and he does not agree with most of what he says now.

Chidambaram tweeted, “I did not agree with most of what George Soros had said in the past, and I do not agree with most of what he says now. But to label his remarks as an ‘attempt to topple the democratically elected government in India’ is a puerile statement.”

Soros, at the Munich Security Conference on Thursday, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be weakened by the stock crash of business tycoon and alleged close ally Gautam Adani, “opening the door” to a democratic revival in the country.

In a series of tweets from his official account on Saturday, Chidambaram said that the people of India will determine who will be in and who will be out of the government of India, and added, “I did not know that the Modi government was so feeble that it can be toppled by the stray statement of a 92-year-old rich foreign national.”

In another tweet, he advised to “ignore George Soros and listen to Nouriel Roubini.” According to Chidambaram’s tweet, Roubini warned that India is “increasingly driven by large private conglomerates that can potentially hamper competition and kill new entrants”.

Nouriel Roubini is CEO of Roubini Macro Associates, a global macroeconomic consultancy firm in New York. He is also the chief economist for Atlas Capital Team LP, as well as co-founder of Rosa and Roubini Associates, according to nourielroubini.com. At a 2006 address to the International Monetary Fund, Roubini warned of the impending recession due to the credit and housing market bubble.

In another tweet, while continuing in this thread, the Congress leader also said, “Liberalisation was to usher in an open, competitive economy. The Modi government’s policies have created oligopolies.”

In Munich, Soros, the 92-year-old billionaire philanthropist had said that PM Modi would “have to answer questions” from foreign investors and Parliament on allegations of fraud and stock manipulation at Adani’s industrial empire, noting that PM Modi had been “silent” on the topic. A supporter of liberal causes, Soros sent shockwaves in the Indian political scene saying Adani and Modi’s fates are entwined, and alleged that Modi was not a “democrat.”

The BJP had yesterday blasted Soros’s remarks, calling it a ‘declaration to destroy India’s democratic processes’. The Adani Group has been under severe pressure since the US short-seller Hindenburg Research on January 24 accused it of accounting fraud and stock manipulation, allegations that the conglomerate has denied as “malicious”, “baseless”, and a “calculated attack on India.”

In related news, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday said Soros is old, rich, opinionated, and dangerous and invests resources in shaping narratives. Responding to a question at a session at the Raisina@Sydney Dialogue, Jaishankar said Soros is an “old, rich, opinionated person sitting in New York, who still thinks that his views should determine how the entire world works.”

“Now, if I could only stop at old, rich and opinionated, I would put it away but he is old, rich, opinionated and dangerous,” Jaishankar said. He said that a few years ago at the same conference, Soros had accused India of planning to strip millions of Muslims of their citizenship.

“We know the dangers of what happens when there’s outside interference … if you do this kind of scaremongering, like millions of people will be deprived of citizenship, it actually does real damage to our societal fabric,” he said. “There are other manifestations of this in different countries, where people like him think an election is good if the person we want to see wins. If the election throws up a different outcome, then we actually will say it’s a flawed democracy,” he said.

Jaishankar said globalisation allows seamless opportunities but also allows narratives to be shaped, money to come in, and organisations to get about their agenda. “All this is done under the pretence of advocacy of an open society of transparency.”