Congress demands white paper on USAID funding after BJP flags Trump’s statement

Addressing an event in Miami Wednesday, Trump said: “…US$ 21 million for voter turnout in India. Why do we need to spend US$ 21 million for voter turnout in India? Wow… I guess they (the Biden administration) were trying to get somebody else elected. We have got to tell the Indian government… This is a total breakthrough.”

Citing some examples about where the money was going before he became President, Trump said: “…US$ 21 million for Indian elections, and US$ 29 million to strengthen the political landscape in Bangladesh… Asia is doing well, we don’t need to give them money.”

Trump had raised similar  concerns earlier, after the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by Elon Musk said USAID had contributed US$ 21 million to boost voter turnout in India.

In a post on X, Congress general secretary in-charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh said: “USAID is very much in the news these days. It was set up on November 3, 1961. Claims being made by the US President are typically nonsensical to say the least… Even so, the Government of India should bring out a White Paper at the earliest detailing USAID’s support to both governmental and non-governmental institutions in India over the decades.”

Latching on to Trump’s remarks, BJP’s IT department head Amit Malviya, in a series of posts on X, said the US President had “confirmed that there was indeed an attempt to influence the Indian election and install someone other than Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi”. He said Modi had raised these concerns in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections last year.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has “aligned himself with global networks seeking to undermine India’s strategic and geopolitical interests, acting as a tool for foreign agencies,” he alleged.

Former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad also raised the issue at a press conference. “When people don’t vote for them (the Congress), they resort to conspiracies, using foreign money to influence India’s elections… They malign India’s democracy, and we strongly condemn this. This blatant attempt at foreign interference in India’s democratic process is a matter of great shame,” he said.

With PTI, New York