The BJP on Thursday sought to mock the Congress over the disbanding of Hindenburg Research, but the Opposition party stuck to its guns, saying that the closure of the US-based short seller does not mean a clean chit for “Modani”.

The BJP slammed Rahul Gandhi over Hindenburg Research, which hit the headlines in India in 2023 after making allegations of stock manipulation and accounting fraud against the Adani group, announcing the closure. The ruling party asked whether the Congress leader had now secured a “contract” from the short-selling firm “to target the Indian state”.

The ruling party also targeted George Soros, wondering if the Hungarian-American philanthropist’s “shop” had also turned vulnerable because of the upcoming change of regime in the US.

The BJP has repeatedly accused Soros of promoting anti-India campaigns, alleging that the Congress was working in tandem with him to “destabilise India”.

Unfazed by the BJP’s swipes, the Congress underscored that Hindenburg Research covered only the “securities law violations” of the Adani group.

“The matter goes far deeper. It involves the abuse of Indian foreign policy to enrich the PM’s close friends at the expense of the national interest. It involves the misuse of investigative agencies to force Indian businesspersons to divest critical infrastructure assets and help Adani build monopolies in airports, ports, defence and cement.

“It involves the capture of once-respected institutions such as Sebi whose discredited chairperson continues in her position despite clear evidence of conflicts of interest and financial links to Adani,” Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh said in a statement.

The Congress statement also details what it bills as the “criminality” of the group that was exposed overseas.

Apart from the much talked about US department of justice charge that Adani group chairman Gautam Adani and senior associates had bribed Indian officials to secure lucrative solar power contracts, the Congress cited a Swiss federal criminal court order that said the Swiss public prosecutor’s office had frozen several Adani-linked bank accounts operated by Chang Chung-Ling and Nasser Ali Shaban Ahli that are “suspected of engaging in illicit activities, including money laundering and embezzlement”.

The Congress also pointed out that several countries had cancelled their Adani projects as “evidence of criminality emerged”, iterating the Opposition’s demand for a joint parliamentary committee probe into the “Adani Mega Scam”.

Briefing reporters, BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said: “Hindenburg is closing shop. I am wondering why the shop closed down on the day the Congress inaugurated its new headquarters?”

The former law minister went on to accuse the short-seller of indulging in “irresponsible acts against the Indian State”.

“Before every Parliament session they (Hindenburg) used to come up with some report to raise a political storm. Now, that shop is getting closed,” Prasad said.

On the Congress’s response that the closure of Hindenburg doesn’t mean a “clean chit to Modani”, Prasad said the statement underscored the deep bond between the Opposition party and the short-seller.

“This only underscores the deepening relationship between Hindenburg and the Congress. They used to work in sync for a designed agenda to destabilise India. They never succeeded,” Prasad said.

Targeting Soros, Prasad claimed that the billionaire used to fund Hindenburg and wondered why it had decided to close down, obliquely linking it with the return of US President-elect Donald Trump to the White House on January 20.

“Why has the Hindenburg shop shut down? This means Soros’s shop, too, is on the verge of closure or turning weak. A possibility of this happening is being expressed. I am not saying anything but people are expecting such a possibility after January 20,” Prasad said.