A fresh political controversy has erupted after former US President Donald Trump alleged that the Biden administration had provided $21 million to India to boost voter turnout. However, a recent report by The Washington Post has refuted the claim, stating that no such program existed, giving India’s opposition Congress party ammunition to target the ruling BJP.
According to The Washington Post, there is no official record of the USAID funding program Trump referred to. Instead, officials from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) confirmed that a $21 million contract was allocated to Bangladesh, not India. This revelation backs a similar report by The Indian Express, which claimed that India has received no USAID funding for any election-related activities since 2008.
The Washington Post article, titled ‘How a False DOGE Claim Ignited a Political Firestorm in India’, has fueled the ongoing feud between India’s ruling BJP and opposition Congress. Congress leaders, including spokesperson Pawan Khera, have seized on the report to criticize the BJP, accusing it of spreading misinformation.
Congress Targets BJP Over False Claim
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera took to social media to mock the BJP and its supporters, saying, “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?”
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The BJP, on the other hand, has continued to accuse Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of seeking foreign intervention to challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the upcoming elections.
Origins of the Controversy
The controversy began when tech billionaire Elon Musk’s DOGE claimed that the Biden administration had canceled a $21 million grant meant to boost voter turnout in India. The claim quickly gained traction after Trump echoed it in his public addresses, alleging that the funding was meant to interfere in India’s 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The USAID-funded Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening (CEPPS) had reportedly received $486 million in funding, of which DOGE falsely claimed that a portion was allocated to India. However, The Washington Post report, quoting three US officials, has confirmed that no such election-related funding was ever provided to India.
ALSO READ: $21 million USAID funding for Bangladesh polls? BJP, Oppn spar over new report
One official stated, “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.” Another US official suggested that the Musk-led department may have been “conflating numbers” from different programs.
Trump Continues to Push Unverified Claims
Despite mounting evidence disproving his claim, Trump has reiterated the $21 million funding charge multiple times. He recently stated, “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.”
With Trump refusing to back down, and Congress using the debunked claim to attack the BJP, the controversy is expected to remain a hot-button issue as India heads toward the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
