PM, EAM must answer why govt silent despite Trump ‘insulting’ India: Congress

New Delhi: Amid the USAID funding row, the Congress on Sunday accused the BJP of indulging in “anti-national work” by spreading “fake news from America” and asserted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will also have to answer as to why the Government is silent when US President Donald Trump and Elon Musk are “insulting” India repeatedly.

The BJP has rejected all such allegations of the Congress and called Rahul Gandhi a “traitor”, accusing him of colluding with foreign forces in his bid to weaken India.

Congress general secretary in-charge Jairam Ramesh said, “BJP is a procession of liars and illiterates. The news about USD 21 million, on which the BJP and their bootlickers were jumping on, turned out to be fake. The USD 21 million in 2022 was not for ‘voter turnout’ in India, but for Bangladesh.”

“Elon Musk made a fake claim, Trump got confused between Dhaka and Delhi, Amit Malviya spread the lie further, then the rest of BJP’s bootlickers seized on it,” he charged.

Ever since the Trump administration’s DOGE said on February 16 that USAID has cancelled the USD 21 million funding for “voting in India”, the BJP has been making fabricated allegations against the Congress, Ramesh said in his post in Hindi on X.

“But now it is coming to light that this entire news is fake. When the money has not even reached India, then what would be the cancellation?” he said.

The controversy is actually about two USAID grants on DOGE’s list that were given through the Washington-based Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening (CEPPS), the Congress leader said.

The CEPPS was supposed to receive a total of USD 486 million from USAID, he said, adding that according to DOGE, the funds included USD 22 million for Moldova and USD 21 million for “voter turnout in India”, he said.

“The first fund USAID gave to CEPPS for Moldova was in 2016 with the ID AID117LA1600001. But the USAID USD 21 million grant for India marked by DOGE is completely fake. Because it was for Bangladesh, not India,” he claimed.

And the reality is that of the USD 21 million earmarked for Bangladesh, USD 13.4 million has already been disbursed before the January 2024 elections, Ramesh said.

“Every federal grant specifies the country in which it is to be used. According to US federal spending, there have been no USAID-funded CEPPS projects in India since 2008. The only ongoing USD 21 million USAID grant to CEPPS, ID 72038822LA00001, was approved in July 2022 for Bangladesh’s ‘Amar Vote Amar’ (My Vote Is Mine),” he pointed out.

“In November 2022, the purpose of the grant was changed to ‘USAID’s Nagorik Programme’. A USAID official in Dhaka also confirmed this on social media during his US visit in December 2024: ‘I manage the USD 21 million CEPPS/Nagorik project funded by USAID’,” Ramesh said.

“Now the BJP should just answer this: Why did the BJP spread fake news about India’s democracy? Why did the BJP did anti-national work by spreading fake news from America? If BJP’s accusing India’s opposition party over fake news from America is not treason, then what is it?” he said.

Ramesh said “Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will also have to answer, Donald Trump and Elon Musk are insulting India again and again, and why is our Government silent on this?”

The Congress leader said “Is it the case that the country’s self-respect has been compromised in the process of begging for mercy for Adani?”