11 hours Ago By TOI News Desk
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera launched an attack on the BJP, ridiculing the ruling party and its supporters for believing the funding allegations. NEW DELHI: A new report by The Washington Post has debunked Donald Trump’s claim that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) provided $21 million to India to increase voter turnout. The report stated that no such funding was allocated to India, contradicting allegations made by the US president.
Instead, the report clarifies that USAID had a $21 million contract for Bangladesh, not India, adding fuel to the ongoing political feud between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress. The US President, who had earlier hinted that the funds might have been used to interfere in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections without giving any evidence, took the Prime Minister's name in his latest remark. During his address at the Governors working session, Trump also criticised funding of $29 million to a firm to strengthen the political landscape in Bangladesh.
"And $21 million going to my friend Prime Minister Modi in India for voter Turnout. We're giving 21 million for voter turnout in India. What about us? I want voter turnout too," Trump said.
The controversy erupted after the Elon Musk-led DOGE platform claimed that it had canceled a $21 million grant that was supposedly meant to boost voter participation in India. This claim, which quickly gained traction in political circles, was used by Trump to suggest that US taxpayer money was being used to interfere in India’s 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Latching onto The Washington Post report, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera launched an attack on the BJP, ridiculing the ruling party and its supporters for believing the funding allegations.
“In this latest expose on the so-called US funding to increase voter turnout in India, The Washington Post discovers that no such program existed and no such funding came in. For the BJP and its blind supporters, crow is part of their daily diet plan. Who else will eat crow following this comedy of errors?” Khera tweeted.
The BJP, on the other hand, has been on the offensive, accusing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of seeking foreign intervention to unseat Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The party has yet to respond to the Washington Post report dismissing the USAID funding claim. What the Washington Post report said According to The Washington Post, the false claim originated when DOGE alleged that USAID had allocated $21 million to India as part of a broader $486 million payment to the Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening (CEPPS), a USAID-funded coalition of non-profits working on democratic governance and electoral processes.
However, the report, citing three officials familiar with US aid initiatives, stated that no such program existed in India. “We were all shocked to see that claim from DOGE. We don’t know anything about elections in India because we have never been involved,” a USAID official told The Washington Post.
Another US official suggested that Musk’s department might have misrepresented the numbers from other programs, saying, “They seem to be conflating figures from unrelated initiatives.” Despite these clarifications, Trump has doubled down on his claims, repeatedly questioning why US funds were allegedly being spent on voter turnout in India. Earlier this week, he remarked, "Why do we need to spend USD 21 million for voter turnout in India? I guess they (the Biden administration) were trying to get somebody else elected.
We have got to tell the Indian government." Stay informed with the latest India news, updates on public holidays , and bank holidays in March ..
