The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday alleged the United States government and “deep state” elements in the country were trying to destabilise India.

It also alleged that the investigative journalism group Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project was providing “ammunition” to the Congress to target India and the BJP.

Reacting to the allegations, a State Department spokesperson told Reuters that Washington provides support for professional development and capacity building for journalists, but this “does not influence the editorial decisions or direction of these organisations”.

“It’s disappointing that the ruling party in India would make these kinds of accusations,” the spokesperson was quoted as saying.

Reuters also quoted the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project as saying that it was an independent media organisation and not associated with any political party. “The US government, while providing some funding to OCCRP, has no say in our editorial processes and no control over our reporting,” the investigative journalism group said.

In a series of posts on social media platform X, the BJP said French investigative media group Mediapart had revealed that the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project was funded by the United States Agency For International Development and other “deep state figures” such as billionaire philanthropist George Soros and the Rockefeller Foundation.

USAID is a United States government agency that is responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance.

“In fact, 50% of OCCRP’s funding comes directly from the US State Department,” the party claimed. “OCCRP has served as a media tool for carrying out a deep state agenda.”

The BJP has for long alleged that Soros, a 94-year-old Hungarian-American, has “designs to weaken Indian democracy”.

The deep state had a clear objective to “destabilise India by targeting Prime Minister Modi”, the BJP alleged on Thursday.

The party added: “To achieve this, they turned to OCCRP, instructing the organisation to provide material aimed at damaging PM Modi’s and India’s image. The Congress then exploited this material to launch attacks on PM Modi, propagate false narratives, and disrupt the functioning of Parliament. The US Deep State was always working behind the scenes.”

The allegations against the State Department come at a time when the strategic partnership between India and the United States has deepened significantly.

The party said that over the past four years, all matters that the Congress has used to politically target the BJP seemed to rely on “narratives and supporting material originating” from overseas.

“Issues like Pegasus, Adani, caste census, ‘democracy in danger’, Global Hunger Index, religious freedom, and press freedom – all appear to draw heavily from international sources,” the party claimed.

The Hindutva party further claimed that the “frequent visits” of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to the US and the United Kingdom “only further reinforced that connection”.

It further claimed: “For instance, during his secret visit to Uzbekistan last year, Samantha Power, the administrator of USAID (which funds OCCRP), was also present... The deep state is an evil force that has brought nothing but destruction.”