New Delhi, Feb 17 : Several questions are cropping up over the USAID funds made available to several NGOs in the country.

The newly created US Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE, which has been auditing several government agencies in the US and cutting wasteful expenditure, posted on February 16 that they identified and cut "$486M to the "Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening", including "$21M for voter turnout in India".

The money was given to the NGO Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening (CEPPS) for a programme 'Voter Turnout in India'. Curiously, the CEPPS website is offline now.

The DOGE revelations have led to a major controversy in India with the BJP terming the now-cancelled funding "external interference" in India's electoral process.

"$21M for voter turnout? This definitely is external interference in India's electoral process. Who gains from this? Not the ruling party for sure!" said BJP national spokesperson Amit Malviya in a statement on Sunday.

Malviya also flagged the controversial 2012 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the Election Commission of India and The International Foundation for Electoral Systems, an organisation linked to Soros' Open Society Foundation, which is primarily funded by USAID -- the American federal body that oversees foreign aid and is facing massive budget cuts under Donald Trump's presidency.

The USAID programme "Elections and Political Processes" was to "Promote legitimate contestation for ideas and political power through democratic political processes that reflect the will of the people".

The action has raised several questions, including whether this was going on for several years to destabilise the country or influence the voters' minds. Since the timing of the funding corresponds with that of the Congress-led UPA rule at the Centre, the fingers are being pointed at the grand old party.

In 2013, USAID pledged half a million dollars for India under the same category and its implementing partner was CEPPS. The funds were disbursed monthly, in and around, the general election in India, 2014. Post-election the funding faded though CEPPS continued to fund various projects in India under different heads.

Media reports have said that in the Annual Finance Reports of CEPPS for at least 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 the disbursed amount every year is around $320,000. This CEPPS is part of the larger umbrella of IFES (International Foundation of Electoral System) which is funded/partnered with USAID, the US State Department, Open Society (Soros') etc.

In 2012, the ECI under Dr S.Y. Quraishi as the Chief Election Commissioner, signed an MoU with IFES for joint initiatives for exchanging information, experiences, and research. All this involves the sharing of a lot of data which in today's era is considered worth a gold mine.

Quraishi has, however, denied any wrongdoing but admitted that there was an MoU with IFES. "Yes, there was an MoU with IFES in 2012 when I was CEC like we had with many other agencies and Election Management Bodies to facilitate training for desirous countries at ECI's training and resource centre, IIIDEM, which was very new at that stage."

He said in a post on X, "There was no financing or even promise of finance involved in MoU, forget X or Y amount. The MoU in fact made it clear in black and white that there would be no financial and legal obligation of any kind on either side."

He also added that this "stipulation was made at two different places to leave no scope for any ambiguity. Any mention of any funds in connection with this MoU is completely false and malicious."

Interestingly, Quraishi in March 2020 had reposted a tweet that indirectly wished that Prime Minister Modi test positive for Covid-19 after he met Brazilian President Bolsonaro during the Republic Day celebrations. Quraishi also posted a picture of a handshake between the two.

The IFES in May 2023 published a report on Dalit's role in the election in India. "This report comprises an analysis of survey data of Dalits across South Asia with questions on elections-related issues..." The page has gone defunct now.

The white paper's keywords resembled Rahul Gandhi's speeches of 'jiski jitni aabadi' (representation), participation, and influence in Parliament.

The money trail involved movement from the USAID to CEPPS, a consortium of three large NGOs which in turn partnered with other NGOs and organisations across the world and further funnelled money into these countries.

There is a web of NGOs which have been involved in a series of projects linked to USAID. And questions arise about the money pumped into the country -- where they mainly aimed at influencing voters to get a likeable government at the Centre, who was to get the benefits in India and the US, and what could have been the benefits like?

/IANS