The Congress on Saturday questioned the Bharatiya Janata Party about United States President Donald Trump’s claim that the alleged $21 million funding provided by the US Agency for International Development was for his “friend Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi in India for voter turnout”.

Trump’s statement had “proved that he had given $21 million to Modi to influence the elections and increase voter turnout”, Congress leader Pawan Khera said.

At an event on Friday, Trump questioned why substantial amounts were being sent abroad when they could be used to support the American economy.

“And $21 million going to my friend Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi in India for voter turnout,” Trump said. “We’re giving $21 million for voter turnout in India. What about us? I want voter turnout too.”

The remark by Trump on Friday came amid a row between the ruling BJP and the Congress, with both parties having accused the other of being the beneficiary of the purported funding.

The Opposition party demanded to know from the prime minister “where did these 21 million dollars go?”.

“Because we are constantly asking questions about voter turnout, is this money increasing voter turnout?” Khera asked at a press conference. “No matter how much foreign funds Narendra Modi brings, he will not be able to weaken the democracy of India.”

Khera was referring to the Congress’ allegations that there were “serious and grave inconsistencies” in the data related to the polling and counting processes of Assembly elections.

The Congress asked the Union government to provide information about which political parties, politicians and non-governmental organisations had received the alleged funds from USAID “and when did they receive it”.

The party demanded that the government explain whether Modi had accepted $21 million “to influence elections and increase voter turnout”, reiterating that a white paper should be published on the matter.

Claims and the political row

On February 16, the Department of Government Efficiency under Trump’s administration announced that it had cancelled several international aid initiatives through the USAID “costing taxpayers’ dollars”.

USAID is an independent agency that is mainly responsible for administering foreign aid and development assistance on behalf of the US government. Trump had on January 24 imposed a 90-day freeze on money distributed by the organisation pending a review by the US State Department.

The list of initiatives for which funding was revoked on February 16 included $486 million in grants to the nonprofit organisation Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening (CEPPS), including an alleged grant of $21 million “for voter turnout” in India.

The consortium comprises three organisations – the National Democratic Institute, the International Republican Institute and The International Foundation for Electoral Systems – that support elections and political transitions globally. It is funded by the USAID Global Elections and Political Transitions Program.

The Department of Government Efficiency, led by Trump’s senior adviser and billionaire Elon Musk, has not provided further details, including who was allegedly meant to receive the money.

On Wednesday, however, Trump said he “guessed” that the previous administration in the US was “trying to get somebody else elected” in India by having allegedly provided $21 million for voter turnout. The comment had come a day after he defended his administration’s decision to cancel the funds.

So far, Trump has not mentioned when the alleged disbursement of funds took place and has not provided evidence to back his claims.

On Thursday, the BJP claimed that Trump’s comments had “confirmed” foreign attempts to influence the Indian electoral processes.

“[Trump’s claim] is a reaffirmation of Prime Minister Modi’s assertion during the 2024 campaign that foreign powers were trying to stop him from coming to power,” the BJP’s publicity chief Amit Malviya said on social media.

The Congress, however, had dismissed Trump’s initial remarks, calling them “nonsensical”.

On Friday, the Ministry of External Affairs said that the allegations made by the Trump administration were “deeply troubling” and lead to concerns about “foreign interference” in India’s internal affairs. Government departments and agencies were looking into the matter, the ministry said.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Saturday that the information released by the Trump administration were “concerning”. He said that USAID had been allowed in India “in good faith, to do good faith activities” and suggestions were being made by the US that “there are activities which are in bad faith”.

Funds not for India, say reports

On Saturday, The Washington Post reported that it had found no evidence that the alleged $21 million funding was for voter turnout in India or for any other purpose. “It seems that they are conflating numbers from other programs,” the newspaper quoted an unidentified US official with knowledge of the USAID programmes as saying.

Another person familiar with CEPPS’s projects was quoted as saying: “We don’t know anything about elections in India because we have never been involved. We were all shocked to see that claim from DOGE.”

Earlier on Friday, The Indian Express reported that the US government’s alleged funding was meant for Bangladesh, not India.

The report added that no CEPPS project had been funded by the USAID in India since 2008. Every US federal grant is linked to a specific “place of performance”, or the country where it is meant to be spent.