New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has strongly condemned the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) for claiming that it canceled a US taxpayer-funded grant of $21 million aimed at enhancing voter turnout in India. The grant, announced on Sunday, was part of a larger package that the US government department stated it had canceled, including a portion for election-related projects in India.
BJP leader Nalin Kohli raised concerns over the involvement of a foreign agency in India’s electoral process, calling it an act of interference. “Why would any US agency wish to give $21 million for election-related work in India? Would that not amount to interference in India’s electoral process?” Kohli questioned. He further emphasized that India, as the world’s largest democracy, already has institutional mechanisms like the Election Commission to ensure free and fair elections.
This controversy has also sparked comparisons to previous incidents where certain political parties, like the Congress, were accused of collaborating with organizations like Cambridge Analytica in attempts to influence election outcomes. Kohli argued that any such external involvement in India’s election process needs to be scrutinized and stopped to safeguard the country’s democratic integrity.
In a similar tone, BJP MP Mahesh Jethmalani took to social media, urging Indian authorities to probe the $21 million earmarked for the voter turnout project. Jethmalani called for Indian agencies to investigate the funding trail, suspecting that foreign interference could undermine India’s sovereignty. “It’s up to our agencies vested with the power to protect the integrity and sovereignty of India to seize USAID’s accounts in India and follow the disbursal trail of the $21 million,” he stated, adding that the full force of the law should be used to combat any attempts to subvert India’s democracy.
The controversy also drew a response from former Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi, who pointed out that there had been no financial engagement with foreign entities like the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) under any MoU from 2012. Quraishi clarified that IFES had been involved in training, not funding.
