Faceoff Over US Funding

The BJP and the Congress are taking sharp jabs at each other over reports that the United States through its global aid body, USAID - budgeted $21 million for "voter turnout in India" in 2012. The US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by Elon Musk announced a series of expenditure cuts, including $21 million allocated for "voter turnout in India." BJP leader Amit Malviya termed the grant an "external interference" in India's elections. He questioned who the beneficiary was, asserting that it was "not the ruling party for sure."He claimed that the now cancelled programme was a pointer to the previous Congress-led UPA government allegedly enabling infiltration of Indian institutions by forces opposed to the country's interests. Senior Congress leader Pawan Khera on Monday took to social media to sharply rebut the allegations, remarking that  in 2012, when the grant was allegedly made, it was the Congress and not the BJP that was in power, but that it was the latter that came to power.