Amit Malviya, the head of the BJP's IT cell, has raised allegations of a connection between billionaire philanthropist George Soros and the recent iPhone hacking case involving opposition leaders. In a post on X, Malviya claimed that George Soros was part of a "sinister plot" involving leaders who reported receiving messages on their iPhones about being under a "state-sponsored" hacking attempt.
Malviya shared a thread on X with over 30 posts, originally created by a user known as 'The Story Teller,' aiming to establish a link between Apple, Soros, and AccessNow. The latter is a non-profit organisation listed by Apple as its 'digital security helpline.' Malviya alleged that Soros funded AccessNow through the Open Society Foundation.
He pointed out the thread's content, saying, "Interesting thread that draws a link between George Soros-funded 'Access Now' and Apple notifications, supposedly received only by opposition leaders. It is therefore no surprise that Rahul Gandhi dropped everything and rushed to hold a press conference. See the sinister plot here."
Malviya also mentioned other funders of AccessNow, including Omidyar, the Ford Foundation, Global Affairs of the government of Canada, and the government of Germany. He attempted to implicate Jairam Ramesh, an associate of the Congress general secretary in charge of communications, in the matter. Malviya claimed that Ramesh works with Omidyar and suggested that the hacking episode was exploited by opposition leaders to create trouble. He stated, "Does it get any murkier than this? The Congress is evidently leaning on everyone, from George Soros to Omidyar, to muddy public discourse in a bid to undermine India's democracy."
Meanwhile, several opposition leaders who reported receiving threat notifications on their iPhones include Rahul Gandhi, TMC MP Mahua Moitra, Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, AAP MP Raghav Chadha, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, Samajwadi Party's Akhilesh Yadav, Congress media head Pawan Khera, journalist Siddharth Varadarajan, Sriram Karri, and President of the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) Samir Saran.
Also read | Who is George Soros - the US-based billionaire who invited BJP's wrath over PM Modi remark?
