Since the last few months of 2021, several small gatherings in London and Delhi, including in one of the embassies in New Delhi, have taken place, in which Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) and a few diplomats have met to discuss the broader theme of how to impact a government change in India in the May 2024 general elections.
The Sunday Guardian has been able to speak to some who have attended these meetings. According to them, when they were invited to be a part of this group through existing acquaintances, who were already a part of this group, they were not aware that the gathering was being convened to debate on the action needed to ensure a government change in New Delhi, which amounts to foreign interference in India’s internal affairs. They were under the impression that they were being invited to discuss the political situation in India.
At least three such meetings have taken place in Delhi as well in the last three months. One of the meetings was organized at a private residence in Moti Bagh in south Delhi. Another meeting was held at the embassy of a non-EU, non-Nato European country currently in the news. The embassy is located in south-west Delhi. The third meeting was held at the office of a lawyer and is situated among the many offices located on the Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg.
The meetings at Moti Bagh and the embassy saw attendance by at least 20 participants, while the meeting at ITO/Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg had 12 participants. As for Moti Bagh, a few PIOs had flown down from Texas and other parts of the United States just to attend this particular meeting. According to people aware of the matter, foreign diplomats from some European countries also attended these discussions, both in Delhi and in London.
The professional profile of the people who attended these gatherings, apart from diplomats includes lawyers, doctors and IT professionals. The meetings deliberated on what could be done to give a push to remove from power India’s present political dispensation. Also discussed was how to recruit marketing professionals, PR agencies and social media experts to launch a campaign against the government and its “friends” ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The exercise to create a negative perception about the government by exploiting “its weaknesses”, as per the deliberations, will begin in full force from September 2023, around 180 days ahead of the expected 2024 elections. Sources aware of these developments said that strategies on how to launch a concerted and carefully drawn out campaign to reach out to the masses both through offline and online modes, including through social media and WhatsApp, and “enlighten” them about the ills of the Narendra Modi government were a crucial part of these deliberations.
The substantial expenses incurred for organizing these meets and the subsequent campaigns are being borne by People of Indian Origin and other nationals.
