The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday (February 21, 2025) dismissed media reports claiming — as a “cover-up attempt” — that the $21-million USAID fund allocation in 2022 was for Bangladesh and not for India, and accused Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party of being involved in “anti-India” activities.
The Congress, on the other hand, cited a news report published in an English daily to demand an apology from the BJP. The Opposition party claimed that the BJP’s narrative was aimed at diverting attention from its own use of foreign funds to destabilise Congress governments in the past.
At a press conference, BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia cited the remarks of U.S. President Donald Trump and an X post by Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency to assert that the fund allocation (since cancelled) was intended for “voter turnout in India”.
“Since morning, the so-called fact checkers linked to Gandhi family — who are also being funded — have been claiming that $21-million funding is not linked to India…their job is to propagate Rahul Gandhi’s lies as truth,” he said.
Terming Mr. Gandhi a “traitor”, Mr. Bhatia accused the senior Congress leader and his party of acting as a “stimulus” for anti-India forces to interfere in the country’s electoral process. “This, because their hate for Mr. Modi has turned into a hate for Bharat, for its citizens. They cannot defeat Mr. Modi electorally, therefore they are banking on foreign forces. In Mr. Modi, the country has got a strong leadership, which is not liked by Mr. Gandhi,” he said.
The BJP leader said: “From 2004 to 2013, over $2,115 million funding was received by the Congress-led government. And, just $1.5 million came during Mr. Modi’s term. This, because they know that Narendra Modi will not sell India’s interests to any foreign power.”
Addressing a press conference at the Congress party’s 24, Akbar Road office, senior spokesperson Pawan Khera alleged that the entire “USD-21 million USAID funds narrative” perpetrated by the BJP, Modi government’s Ministers, its economic adviser, the party’s IT department head, the RSS-BJP ecosystem and a section of the “BJP-friendly media” was done to divert attention from their “own sins” of using foreign funds to destabilise Congress governments of the past.
He claimed that P.N. Dhar’s book Indira Gandhi, the “Emergency” and Indian Democracy chronicles how “the US showered praise on J P (Jayaprakash Narayan) and his role in fighting the Indira Gandhi government in 1974” as the Nixon administration wanted to punish her for defying the U.S. in 1971 and conducting India’s first nuclear test later.
“Is it not true that exactly a month ago, on January 21, former Union Minister Smriti Irani attended a panel discussion organised by the USAID [the United States Agency for International Development] in Davos under the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum? Is it not true that Smriti Irani herself has stated that she has served as the USAID goodwill ambassador to India for four years?” Mr. Khera asked.
If collaborations with U.S. agencies amounted to deep-state activities, then why did Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis discuss opportunities on a collaboration with the USAID on November 10, 2022, the Congress leader asked.
Mr. Khera further alleged that the RSS orchestrated the Anna Hazare-Arvind Kejriwal “India Against Corruption” movement to overthrow the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government with the help of foreign aid, especially from Ford Foundation and USAID.
