New Delhi: The BJP on Saturday questioned the Congress over inviting Guillaume Long to its Bharat Summit 2026 in Hyderabad, alleging that the party was providing a platform to individuals linked to international networks seeking to undermine India's democratic institutions.

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Guillaume Long, former Ecuador foreign minister, was reportedly listed as one of the speakers at the Bharat Summit 2026, hosted by the Congress government in Telangana.

"Congress must answer: What is the agenda behind inviting Guillaume Long to its Bharat Summit 2026 in Hyderabad? Long is a Senior Research Fellow at CEPR, which reportedly received $420,000 in grants from George Soros-backed Open Society Policy Center in 2021," BJP national media convenor Ashish Usha Agarwal said in a post on X.

Agarwal also referred to the Enforcement Directorate's searches at eight premises in Bengaluru in March 2025 allegedly linked to the Open Society Foundations and its beneficiaries in connection with suspected violations of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

"By inviting individuals like Guillaume Long, is Rahul Gandhi seeking international backing for an anti-India agenda?" he said.

He also questioned whether the Congress was bringing together international forces under the banner of "regime change" to question India's democratic mandate and weaken its democratic and constitutional institutions.

"Is there a larger political agenda behind this gathering? Rahul Gandhi must answer the nation. What is Congress's objective in providing a platform to such individuals and networks?" Agarwal said.

"India's democracy is strengthened by the people's mandate, not by international networks seeking to undermine it," he added. Agarwal also used the hashtag #AntiIndiaCongress in his post.

In a separate post on X, BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari alleged that speakers at the Bharat Summit 2026 included individuals with links to George Soros-backed networks and a record of anti-India statements.

"Dirty narrative by Congress EXPOSED! Bharat Summit 2026 speakers organized by Congress include individuals with links to George Soros-backed networks and a record of anti-India statements," he said.

Referring to Guillaume Long, Bhandari described him as a Senior Diplomatic Advisor at The Hague Group and a Senior Fellow at CEPR, which he claimed had been linked to George Soros-backed Open Society funding.

He also named Patrick Gaspard, former president of the Open Society Foundations, among the speakers.

"Rahul Gandhi wants to bring regime-change operators into India's political discourse while preaching about democracy," Bhandari alleged.

He also used the hashtag #AntiIndiaCongress in his post.

The Congress has said that experts from 70 countries will attend the event for deliberations on the emergence of a new global order and India's strategic responses to the developments, besides issues like cooperative federalism and electoral integrity.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor alleged on Friday that 115 of the 315 speakers cleared by the external affairs ministry for the Bharat Summit in Hyderabad ended up being refused entry to India or having their visas cancelled.

Visa matters are "sovereign functions" of any government, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Friday, responding to reports that multiple foreign speakers, including Norwegian journalist Helle Lyng, had their visas revoked or denied ahead of the Bharat Summit.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Mathrubhumi and is published from a syndicated feed.)