PM Modi must talk to Trump, refute allegation that U.S. was about to give $21 million for increasing voter turnout: Congress

Congress Spokesperson Pawan Khera addresses a press conference. File.
| Photo Credit: ANI

The political row over the reported $21 million USAID funding for voter turnout in India continued into Saturday (February 22, 2025), with the Congress citing a U.S. media report and doubling down on its demand of a white paper on the USAID funding as well as funding by other such agencies in India. The party also added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi must “talk to his friend, U.S. President Trump and strongly refute the allegation.”

Congress leader Pawan Khera, in a statement, said that while the BJP and its allies are “desperately tying themselves in knots to somehow prove their allegation of “Deep State and ‘Foreign Intervention’ with regards to “$21 million USAID funds narrative’,” several Indian news media outlets have fact checked the claim as untrue. He also went on to cite a report by Washington Post which “found no evidence that $21 million was due to be spent for voter turnout in India or for any other purpose.”

Also read | USAID has funded several projects in India

Calling the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and BJP and “habitual offenders” of crafting fake narratives and propagating lies, he questioned who really benefitted from the USAID money

“We have already given instances how the USAID started the Cashless India campaign in October 2016, a month before the Demonetisation Disaster was announced by PM Modi. Even Modi ji’s much hyped Swachh Bharat Abhiyan has a USAID stamp. If the Modi Govt considers USAID such a pariah, then why did it partner with them for Swachh Bharat Mission, where it worked with GOI in 73 cities? Why did Modi Govt request the US administration “multiple times” to get COVID-19 aid worth more than $100 million in 2021?”

Mr. Khera went on to reiterate demands made by Congress the previous day, as he called for legal action against the “RSS-BJP and all their ecosystem actors” for spreading lies.

The BJP has accused the Congress of using external influence in India’s election process, ever since the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced on February 16 that it had “cancelled” USAID funding of “USD 21 million for voter turnout in India”. U.S. President Donald Trump bolstered this claim by saying the USD 21 million funding to India for ‘voter turnout’ was a “kickback” scheme, as he continued to attack the previous Biden administration over the now cancelled financial aid.

“USD 21 million for voter turnout in India. Why are we caring about India’s turnout? We have got enough problems. We want our own turnout,” Trump said.

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, termed the USAID funding as “deeply troubling” that has led to concerns over foreign interference in India’s internal affairs.

(With PTI inputs)