New Delhi: After the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced on February 16 that it had “cancelled,” among a string of projects, USAID funding of “$21 million for voter turnout in India,” the BJP and the Congress parties are involved in a political blamegame. The BJP has accused the opposition Congress of using alleged external influence in India’s election process. Trump had also mentioned in his speech at Miami that why should US spend such a hefty amount for voter turnout in India. “Wow, $21m! I guess they were trying to get somebody else elected,” Trump had said. Amid such controversies, a fresh report has come up with a twist in the tale.
A fact check investigation done by Indian Express claim the $21 million was sanctioned in 2022 for Bangladesh and not for India. The newspaper has claimed to have accessed reports regarding the same. Of this, $13.4 million has already been disbursed, ostensibly for “political and civic engagement” among Bangladesh students in the run-up to the January 2024 elections and projects that put a question mark on the integrity of these elections — seven months before the ouster of Sheikh Hasina, reported the Indian Express.
The report claimed that no USAID grant had been allocated for any election-related project in India since 2008. It said the only USAID grant worth $21 million for voter participation was sanctioned in 2022 for a project in Bangladesh called “Amar Vote Amar” (My Vote is Mine).
Congress reacts, BJP raises fake news alert
Congress leader Pawan Khera hit out at the BJP citing the Express report for pointing fingers at the opposition party without verifying facts. Khera dubbed the BJP as “anti-national” and pointed out that it was the BJP that had been in the opposition for the longest period. The Congress leader alleged that the BJP had taken “direct help from external forces” to destablise Congress governments.
“Isn’t it anti-national of the BJP to immediately start pointing fingers at the opposition parties without first verifying facts and also without realising that the BJP has been in the opposition for the longest period and has, from time to time, taken direct and unethical help from external forces to unsettle the government?” Khera wrote on X.
“Where are Ajit Doval, IB, and RAW? If USD 21 million could come to your country, then this is a slap in their (BJP’s) face. Later they changed their statement and said that the money came in 2012. Did they win the 2014 election with that money?” Khera added.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the report exposed the lies of the BJP and sought an apology from the party.
Lies first mouthed in Washington.
Lies then amplified by BJP’s Jhoot Sena.
Lies made to be debated on Godi media.
Lies now thoroughly exposed.
Will the Liars apologise? pic.twitter.com/nY7iP4jmnN
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) February 21, 2025
Meanwhile, BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya took to social media to allege that the Express report was false.
FAKE NEWS ALERT 🚨‼️
The Indian Express story discusses $21 million in funding to Bangladesh in 2022. However, the article misrepresents the reference to a $21 million funding tranche intended to ‘promote’ voter turnout in India.
What Indian Express conveniently sidesteps is… pic.twitter.com/niOaWXivm5
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) February 21, 2025
“The Indian Express story discusses $21 million in funding to Bangladesh in 2022. However, the article misrepresents the reference to a $21 million funding tranche intended to ‘promote’ voter turnout in India. What Indian Express conveniently sidesteps is the 2012 Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Election Commission of India—under the leadership of S.Y. Quraishi—and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), an organization linked to George Soros’s Open Society Foundation, which is primarily funded by USAID. Their report also remains silent on subsequent funding, beginning in 2014, under various categories aimed at interfering in India’s election process. Details of this funding were once available through annual filings on the now-defunct website of the Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening (CEPPS). CEPPS is a subset of IFES, which collaborates with USAID, the U.S. State Department, George Soros’s Open Society Foundation, and others,” he wrote on X.
