Fight over USAID funding: Cong claims 7 projects got grant, BJP calls it ‘theatrics to hide beneficiaries’

New Delhi: The raging row over USAID funding to India for ‘voter turnout’ has kicked up a political storm, with Congress and BJP taking turns to potshots at each other over the ‘beneficiaries’. Congress called it another ‘jumla’ to mislead and misguide the nation while BJP has snapped back, accusing the former of colluding with foreign forces to conspire against country.

The fresh bickering broke out this morning, with Congress spokesperson Jairam Ramesh sharing Finance Ministry’s annual report for 2023-24 and stated that the contentious USAID (US Agency for International Development) scheme was engaged in seven projects and this was being done in collaboration with the government.

BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya was quick to hit back and called it a desperation of Congress and its ecosystem to deflect from the controversial USAID funding.

Breaking down the specifics of funding, he elaborated, “the USAID projects in question are official government-to-government partnerships, transparently executed as Externally Aided Projects (EAPs). The Centre simply channels these funds to states for development, which is well within the framework of cooperative federalism.”

He also said that the projects cited in Finance Ministry’s 2023-24 report, shared by Jairam Ramesh, were started way back in 2010-11 and the same can be corroborated from the 2014-15 report.

Early this morning, Congress communications-in-charge Jairam Ramesh claimed that USAID is currently implementing seven projects in the country with combined budget of $750 million.

“Not a single of these projects has to do with voter turnout. All of them are with and through the Union Government,” Ramesh said.

Replying to the charge, Amit Malviya took to X and asked, “Why is Congress defending covert interference by foreign donors and organizations linked to George Soros, which seek to destabilize our democracy under the guise of philanthropy?

Further, in a strong-worded statement, he said, “India’s sovereignty is not up for sale. India’s governance will not be dictated by foreign agents masquerading as benefactors.”

The controversy over $21 million grant to India erupted after Elon Musk-led DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) claimed that it had cancelled the grant to India to boost “voter turnout”, a claim seconded by US President Donald Trump on multiple occasions.

IANS