New Delhi, Feb 17 In a fiery response to BJP's IT cell chief Amit Malviya’s claims of foreign interference in India’s elections, senior Congress leader Pawan Khera on Monday took to social media to sharply rebut the allegations. The controversy began when Malviya insinuated that external forces, specifically USAID, were attempting to influence voter turnout in India, citing financial support provided for the purpose of “strengthening the electoral process.”
On Monday, Khera posted on 'X', saying: “Someone needs to explain to this clown that back in 2012, when the Election Commission of India (ECI) allegedly received funding from USAID, the ruling party was the Congress. So, by his logic, the Congress government was sabotaging its own electoral prospects by inviting this supposed ‘foreign interference.’”
He continued with a touch of sarcasm: “And according to Malviya, the Opposition (BJP) must have won the 2014 elections thanks to George Soros and USAID.”
The controversy erupted after Malviya posted on ‘X’ on Sunday, referring to a $486 million fund allocated to the "Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening," which included $21 million directed at increasing voter turnout in India.
He argued that this was an attempt at “external interference” in India’s electoral process, stating, “$21 million for voter turnout? This definitely is external interference, and it certainly doesn’t benefit the ruling party.”
In another tweet, he further accused George Soros, a financier with alleged ties to the Congress party, of being behind this interference.
He pointed to a 2012 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the ECI and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, an organisation funded by Soros’s Open Society Foundation, which had also received backing from USAID.
Malviya’s remarks were part of a broader narrative about the Congress-led UPA government’s alleged complicity in bringing foreign influence into India’s institutions, suggesting that the previous government had “enabled the infiltration of India’s institutions by forces opposed to the nation’s interests.”
This spat was further fuelled by a statement from the United States Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an agency led by billionaire Elon Musk, which recently declared that it had cancelled a series of international funding projects. Among these was the $21 million allocated for voter turnout in India.
The revelation sparked fresh political debate in India, with the ruling BJP accusing foreign entities of meddling in the country’s democratic processes.
However, former Chief Election Commissioner, Sanjeev Sanyal, dismissed the allegations as “baseless,” calling the claims “outlandish and unfounded.”
As the controversy deepens, questions have also emerged regarding who in India may have received the $21 million from USAID.
Sanjeev Sanyal, a member of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Economic Advisory Council, has demanded clarity on the recipients of these funds, intensifying the political firestorm.
While the BJP takes aim at foreign involvement in India’s elections, the Congress has strongly denied the allegations, calling them part of a smear campaign.
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