Congress slams BJP after finance ministry report says USAID projects not related to 'voter turnout'

The BJP has also rejected allegations of the Congress and accused Rahul Gandhi as well as the party of colluding with foreign forces in a bid to weaken India.

New Delhi: The war of words over United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funding in India intensified on Monday with the Congress using a Ministry of Finance report to claim that it has thoroughly exposed the Narendra Modi government's "lies" on 'voter turnout' project, even as the BJP accused it of defending "covert interference" seeking to destabilise India's democracy.

The Ministry's annual report the agency funded seven projects worth $750 million in 2023-24 in partnership with the union government but there was no mention of a voter turnout project.

US President Donald Trump initially said $21 million was "given to my friend (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi" but later he said it was $18 million, while reports suggested it was for Bangladesh and not India.

Citing the information in the annual report, Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh posted on X, "mone other than the Union Finance Ministry has thoroughly exposed the lies of the PM and his 'jhoot' (lies) brigade, including his dapper External Affairs Minister."

USAID is currently implementing seven projects in collaboration with the government with a combined budget of approximately $750 million as per the Ministry report, he said adding, "not a single of these projects has to do with voter turnout. All of them are with and through the Union government."

Hitting back, BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya alleged that the "desperation of the Congress and its ecosystem to deflect" from the USAID funding routed through various "George Soros-linked fronts and a labyrinth of NGO structures to meddle" with India's electoral process is a "dead giveaway". It is now obvious who the beneficiaries are, he said.

He said the USAID projects in question are official government-to-government partnerships, transparently executed as Externally Aided Projects (EAPs) and the Centre simply channels these funds to states for development, which is well within the framework of cooperative federalism.

"In fact, the very projects cited in the Finance Ministry’s 2023-24 report (uploaded in July 2024) trace their origins back to 2010-11. This isn’t new—even the 2014-15 report confirms the same," he said.

"India’s sovereignty is not up for sale. Let us drop the selective amnesia and political theatrics. Facts matter. India’s governance will not be dictated by foreign agents masquerading as benefactors," he added.

According to the annual report, an obligation of a total of $97 million (around Rs 825 crore) has been made by the USAID under the seven projects in 2023-24. The funding was for projects related to agriculture and food security programmes; water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH); renewable energy; disaster management and health.