Nehruvian legacy ensures people like Soros cannot determine India's electoral outcomes: Cong

Congress on Friday said billionaire investor George Soros has nothing to do with "democratic revival" in the country and whether the Adani Group issue sparks such an exercise will entirely depend on the Grand Old Party and other Opposition parties.

The remarks came as Soros said the controversy surrounding the Hindenburg Research report on Adani Group may open the door to a democratic revival in the country.

Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said, "whether the 'PM-linked Adani scam' sparks a democratic revival in India depends entirely on the Congress, Opposition parties and our electoral process. It has nothing to do with George Soros."

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He went on to add, "our Nehruvian legacy ensures people like Soros cannot determine our electoral outcomes."

The BJP had hit out at the billionaire for his comments made at the Munich Security Conference.

In his speech 'Climate Change and Rising Authoritarianism', Soros said India is an "interesting case" and it is a democracy, but "its leader Narendra Modi is no democrat. Inciting violence against Muslims was an important factor in his meteoric rise".

"Modi maintains close relations with both open and closed societies. India is a member of the Quad (which also includes Australia, the US, and Japan), but it buys a lot of Russian oil at a steep discount and makes a lot of money on it," he said, adding that Modi has much in common with Turkey president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"Erdogan has much in common with Modi. But, while Modi seemed to be firmly in the saddle until recently, Erdogan has mismanaged the Turkish economy and will face elections in May. All his efforts are focused on winning the elections," he said.

Referring to the Hindenburg report, Soros said Modi and business tycoon Adani are "close allies; their fate is intertwined".

"Adani Enterprises tried to raise funds in the stock market, but he failed. Adani is accused of stock manipulation and his stock collapsed like a house of cards. Modi is silent on the subject, but he will have to answer questions from foreign investors and in parliament. This will significantly weaken Modi’s stranglehold on India’s federal government and open the door to push for much needed institutional reforms. I may be naïve, but I expect a democratic revival in India," he added.