Congress’ Pawan Khera hits back at the BJP’s Amit Malviya over the $21 million grant. The BJP’s response was quick and sharp, declaring the post confirmed \”external interference\” in Indian elections. The controversy broke after an X post by the US’ Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, Washington’s ‘cost-cutting’ agency set up by President Donald Trump and run by X owner Elon Musk. US taxpayers’ money was, ostensibly, being spent on global aid programmes, such as $19 million for biodiversity conservation in Nepal and $10 million for medical programmes in Mozambique. But these, it claimed, were, in fact, spent on \”questionable\” overseas political activities. PM’s Adviser Sanjeev Sanyal also lashed out, calling USAID \”the biggest scam in human history\”. The BJP has often claimed that Soros-founded media agencies publish ‘anti-India’ narratives that are amplified by the Congress to defame the country.
