Washington: Was Joe Biden’s administration in the United States meddling with polls in India? The speculations are rife after Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) dropped a bombshell on social media platform X on Sunday.
Through a post on X, the department announced that the United States has cancelled millions of dollars in funding for several countries, including India and Bangladesh. This comes as the new administration led by President Donald Trump makes budget cut. The department announced that the US has decided to slash a $21 million program designed to increase voter turnout in India. He also announced that a $29 million initiative aimed at strengthening Bangladesh’s political landscape will also be slashed.
“US taxpayer dollars were going to be spent on the following items, all of which have been cancelled,” the Musk-led department wrote on X.
US taxpayer dollars were going to be spent on the following items, all which have been cancelled:
– $10M for “Mozambique voluntary medical male circumcision”
– $9.7M for UC Berkeley to develop “a cohort of Cambodian youth with enterprise driven skills”
– $2.3M for “strengthening…— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) February 15, 2025
The cuts reflect a reassessment of US foreign aid priorities. It also indicates a broader push to curtail spending on international development projects.
Elon Musk has time and again asserted that “America would go bankrupt” without budget cuts.
The announcement comes just days after Donald Trump met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The two leaders had also made significant announcements to strength US-India ties.
BJP REACTS
BJP’s Amit Malviya reacted to the announcement, stating, “- $486M to the “Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening,” including $22M for “inclusive and participatory political process” in Moldova and $21M for voter turnout in India. $21M for voter turnout? This definitely is external interference in India’s electoral process. Who gains from this? Not the ruling party for sure!”
Recently, Trump had lauded DOGE for finding tens of billions of dollars in government savings. “We’re talking about tens of billions of dollars that we’ve already found… But you’re talking about maybe 500 billion. It’s crazy the numbers you’re talking about,” Trump told media, as reported by The Washington Post on Feb 11.
