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Washington Post says Trumps claim of $21 million US funding for Indias voter turnout false

by Trans World Features | @twfindia 23 Feb 2025, 03:28 am

The Washington Post has refuted former US President Donald Trump’s claim that $21 million was provided to India for "voter turnout," stating that no such program exists, reported India Today.

The American daily’s findings have given the Congress fresh ammunition to attack the BJP.

In its report titled How a false DOGE claim ignited a political firestorm in India, The Washington Post clarified that USAID had a $21 million contract for Bangladesh, not India, citing officials from the organisation.

The report supports a similar claim by The Indian Express, which earlier stated that India had received no USAID funding for any election-related project since 2008.

This report has been central to an ongoing political feud between the BJP and the Congress.

Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera seized upon the Washington Post’s findings, accusing the BJP and its supporters of spreading misinformation.

"In this latest expose on the so-called US funding to increase voter turnout in India, The Washington Post discovers that no such program existed and no such funding came in. For the BJP and its blind supporters, crow is part of their daily diet plan. Who else will eat crow following this comedy of errors?" Khera tweeted.

The controversy began when DOGE, led by Elon Musk, claimed that it had scrapped a $21 million grant to India intended to boost voter turnout.

This amount was said to be part of a $486 million payment to the Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening (CEPPS), a USAID-backed coalition of non-profits.

The Washington Post, citing three sources familiar with US aid initiatives, reported that there was no program in India matching DOGE's claim.

"We were all shocked to see that claim from DOGE. We don't know anything about elections in India because we have never been involved," an official told the newspaper.

Another US official suggested that the Musk-led department may have been "conflating numbers" from different programs.

Meanwhile, Trump has repeatedly suggested that the Biden administration may have interfered in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

"Why do we need to spend USD 21 million for voter turnout in India? I guess they (the Biden administration) were trying to get somebody else elected. We have got to tell the Indian government," he said earlier this week.

Despite making the claim multiple times, Trump has yet to provide any evidence to support his allegation.