When Elon Musk headed the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) revealed that $21 million was allocated for “increased voter turnout in India”, it created a storm in political circles here.
With such a polarised polity that exists currently in the country, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party sought to suggest that the money was meant for the opposition to dethrone the Modi government. The party got further ammunition in its arsenal when US President Donald Trump remarked that probably they (the previous Biden administration) wanted someone else to get elected in India.
These “disclosures” if these were so, made the opposition Congress unnecessarily defensive. When a leading English daily came out with a story suggesting that DOGE was confusing the actual destination of the donation between Bangladesh and India and that the money had gone to Bangladesh, the Congress jumped into the troubled waters as if feeling vindicated for no reason.
Nobody had said that the Congress or any other opposition party had taken the USAID money. The Congress by latching on the newspaper story only displayed its nervousness.
The party once again contradicted itself after Trump said that $21 million was allocated for his friend Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This was quite contradictory on the part of Trump to say so. Just a few days ago he had observed that the Biden administration probably wanted someone else to get elected and within days, he mentioned Prime Minister Modi’s name.
It is quite likely that by mentioning Modi, Trump meant India. But in public discourse on such sensitive matters parties and leaders catch the words and phrases and play these up, to suit their own narrative. Congress in India precisely did that.
Even at the cost of clearly sounding self-contradictory, the party told the Prime Minister to ask “his friend” (Trump) to refute what he had said. In the same vein, the party again cited the reports of one Indian and one US newspaper, saying that no such money was given to India.
On the one hand, the Congress tried to play up Trump's remarks that $21 million were allocated for Modi and at the same time it quoted newspaper reports suggesting that no money came to India, apparently in a clear attempt to bail itself out of the controversy of having received any foreign funds.
Against the earlier confusion, that $21 million which was earlier said to have been allocated or transferred to India, was given to various organisations in Bangladesh, has also been cleared. Various organisations in Bangladesh were paid $29 million separately while $21 million were meant for India. It is now clear that $21 million was allocated for India.
There, however, is no clarity as to whether this money reached India or not. The Spokesperson for the External Affairs Ministry Randhir Jaiswal said that it was too early to reach any conclusion about whether any money reached India or not. But it has already created a political storm in the country with the ruling and the opposition parties accusing each other of having got the money.
It is but natural that the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress are trying to blame each other. It is highly unlikely that the actual truth about the USAID funds to the tune of $21 million would come out soon if at all it will ever come out.
There is also another angle to the story. According to Trump, these donations or part of these were routed back to the US from the receiving countries and organisations and pocketed by certain people/organisations back home in the US, which he called “kickbacks” received under the cover of USAID. The ultimate truth may come out only in case the US government orders an investigation.
However, it is a fact that USAID has been donating and distributing funds worldwide to countries and organisations for various developmental works including research. During the last 24 years, the USAID has disbursed about $2.9 billion in India. Even the Swachh Bharat scheme has reportedly got donations from the USAID. But the concern is once the aid is distributed for and with questionable intentions.
The BJP has been consistently maintaining that there was a clear conspiracy by certain external forces to prevent it from returning to power, particularly Prime Minister Modi. The party has been openly naming the US leftist billionaire George Soros to help the opposition parties. The Congress has repeatedly rejected such charges.
The Congress this time appears to be adopting an aggressive stance against the government. First, it tried to dispute the DOGE claims that $21 million was allocated to India. Then in a complete U-turn within a day, it picked up Donald Trump’s remark, saying, $21 million was meant for his “friend” Modi, by which he meant India.
In all likelihood, the money did not come to India as even the DOGE has suggested that it was allocated only and the allocation was later cancelled after Trump came to power. But it has already created a political storm in the country.
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