New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday raised the issue of funding of news portal ‘Newsclick’ in the Lok Sabha and slammed the Congress leadership for defending the ‘illegal & illegitimate aid’ by China to fund an anti-India campaign.
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, speaking on the issue in Parliament, said that the ‘biased & partisan’ news portal received funding from China to further its anti-India propaganda.
“An environment was created against the government using Chinese funds,” he said.
The sharp attack on Congress came on a day when Rahul Gandhi marked return to the Sansad, after revocation of his suspension. His return to the Parliament saw Congressmen celebrating outside the House but this happiness was apparently short-lived, with BJP’s searing attack on the party.
BJP lambasted the party for defending the news portal and its alleged links with the Communist Party of China.
The row over Chinese funding of Newsclick ignited over a US daily ‘unearthed’ the trail of funding in its investigation. New York Times, in its investigation found that an individual named Neville Roy Singham received funding from the Communist Party of China to promote latter’s political agenda across the world.
Tech mogul Neville financed the news website Newsclick, with intentions of pushing Chinese propaganda in India, the report said.
In fact, an ED investigation in 2021 found out that the news organization got foreign funding to the tune of Rs 38 crore and it was traced to the American millionaire.
Fuming Cong returns fire
Congress was left fuming at the direct charge of BJP MP. Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary dashed off a letter to Speaker OM Birla and demanded that the remarks by BJP MP be expunged from the house records as it was flagrant violation of the rules.
“We demand under Rule 380 that his remarks be expunged in full and that an inquiry be conducted into how such an allegation was permitted to be raised on the record,” Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury wrote in his letter.
