Congress on the offensive after report rebuts USAID payment to India

The Congress on Friday went on the offensive against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after a report said the $21 million given by USAID to boost voter turnout was not for India but Bangladesh.

Congress leaders hit out after The Indian Express said a fact check showed that assertions by billionaire Elon Musk and by US President Donald Trump over the USAID payment were wrong.

Musk, now heading the Department of Government Efficiency, said the USAID money to India had been cancelled along with several “wasteful” payments by the American body.

BJP versus Congress

The BJP was on a warpath againstthe Congress since Trump echoed the Musk claim, hinting that the money was being sent to India to “get somebody else elected”.

The Congress accused the BJP of jumping the gun in accusing the Opposition party of using alleged external influence in the election process.

What Express revealed

The Express report showed that no USAID grant was allocated for any election-related project in India since 2008.

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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 berates BJP

Citing the Express report, Congress leader Pawan Khera hit out at the BJP for pointing fingers at the opposition party without verifying facts.

"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 said on X.

The Congress went on to ask that if the grant was indeed given to India, then it was a slap in the face of the BJP. "Where are (NSA) Ajit Doval, IB and RAW? If USD 21 million could come to your country, this is a slap in their (BJP's) face.”

Khera targets BJP

He said after the Express report, the BJP had changed its statement and said the money came in 2012 – when the Congress ruled India and the BJP was in the opposition.

“Did they (BJP) win the 2014 election with that money?" Khera asked.

Congress chief spokesman Jairam Ramesh made five points: “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?”

BJP’s counter

On its part, the BJP dismissed the claims made in the report, saying it misrepresented the reference to a $21 million funding tranche intended to "promote voter turnout in India".

BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya asserted that the report sidestepped a MoU signed in 2012 between the Election Commission and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES).

Malviya said the IFES was linked to the Open Society Foundation of American billionaire George Soros, which the BJP has repeatedly linked with the Congress and the Gandhi family.