Donald Trump questions $21M USAID funding for India voter turnout | Controversy explained amid BJP, Cong, EC responses

US President Donald Trump has questioned the rationale behind spending $21 million on voter turnout in India through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Trump suggested the money was potentially used to influence elections, adding that the US should address the Indian government, calling the situation a 'total breakthrough.'

“Why do we need to spend $21 million on voter turnout in India? I guess they were trying to get somebody else elected. We have got to tell the Indian Government... This is a total breakthrough,” President Donald Trump said, speaking at the FII Priority Summit in Miami, Florida, on Wednesday (local time).

Trump's comments come after US government’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by billionaire Elon Musk, announced on February 16 that it had cancelled $21 million ‘taxpayer’ money intended for increasing ‘voter turnout in India’.

The move was part of DOGE’s ongoing crackdown on the United States Agency for International Development(USAID)-funded projects.

Why is USAID funding controversial?

The DOGE cancellation sparked a political controversy in India, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claiming it proved an ‘instance of interference’ in India's electoral process during the Congress-led UPA rule.

The opposition Congress hit back, questioning how the ruling party (Congress) was sabotaging its own electoral prospects by getting this so-called ‘external interference’.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government secured a third term with a reduced majority in Lok Sabha Elections, 2024. The BJP fell short of the halfway mark on its own and formed the government with the support of its NDA allies.

Earlier, Amit Malviya,  the in-charge of BJP’s National Information and Technology Department, said the $21 million for voter turnout in India was “definitely external interference in India’s electoral process”.

“Who gains from this? Not the ruling party, for sure,” Malviya said claiming that in 2012, under the leadership of chief election commissioner (CEC) SY Quraishi, the ECI signed a memorandum of understanding with the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES).

Malviya said IFES was linked to investor “George Soros’ Open Society Foundations, primarily funded by USAID”.

Mint could not verify Malviya’s claims. Quraishi has rejected the claims saying that while there was an MoU with IFES for training, no financing was involved.

"The report in a section of Media about an MoU by ECI in 2012 when I was CEC, for funding of certain million dollars by a US agency for raising voter turnout in India does not have an iota of fact,” Quraishi, who was CEC from July 2010 to June 2012, said in a post on X.

What is USAID's $21M funding?

The project under question in India, one of several worldwide, is funded by the Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening (CEPPS), an organisation founded in 1995 and funded by USAID.

CEPPS is a not-for-profit organisation that pools the expertise of three international organisations: the National Democratic Institute, the International Republican Institute, and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems. It aims to support elections and political transitions globally.

For now, there is no clarity beyond what the DOGE tweet and Trump’s comments said on USAID funding to increase voter turnout in India. Usually, agencies like USAID have funding earmarked annually. In this case, it remains unclear if the 21 million USD mentioned was for a year or one of the instances.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) usually runs voter turnout campaigns. However, the poll panel has not yet reacted to the DOGE's cancellation except for Quraishi’s clarification.