On Friday (21st February), The Indian Express published a misleading ‘fact-check’ in the hopes of downplaying allegations of foreign interference by the United States in the Indian elections.
The development comes 5 days after the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced that it was saving US taxpayers money by cancelling projects abroad. One of them was about strengthening ‘voter turnout’ in India.
A sum of $21 million (~₹182 crore) was set aside by federal US agencies for the project. DOGE confirmed the matter in a tweet on 15th February 2025.
US taxpayer dollars were going to be spent on the following items, all which have been cancelled:
— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) February 15, 2025
– $10M for "Mozambique voluntary medical male circumcision"
– $9.7M for UC Berkeley to develop "a cohort of Cambodian youth with enterprise driven skills"
– $2.3M for "strengthening…
It also cancelled another project, which aimed to splurge $29 million to ‘strengthening the political landscape in Bangladesh.’ On Wednesday (21st February), incumbent US President Donald Trump further confirmed the figures during a speech in Miami.
He had said, “And $21 million for voter turnout in India. Why are we caring about India turnout? We got enough problems. We want our own turnout, don’t we? Can you imagine all that money going to India?”
Donald Trump added, “I wonder what they think when they get it. Now, it’s a kickback scheme. You know, it’s not like they get it and they spend. They kick it back to the people that sent it. I would say in many cases, anytime you have no idea what we’re talking about, that means there’s a kickback because nobody has any idea what’s going on there.”
After this article was published, Trump clearly said again $21 Million for India and $29 Million for Bangladesh.
— Ankur Singh (@iAnkurSingh) February 21, 2025
Bangladesh got money, but it was meant for them.
Rajdeep is calling US President as Fake News? 🤡 pic.twitter.com/mMeP0nZqUw
“$29 million to strengthen the political landscape in Bangladesh. Nobody knows what they mean by political landscape,” the US President informed.
There was evidently public uproar over the revelation, given that the controversial USAID had been trying to carry out regime change operations both in India and Bangladesh.
On Friday (21st February), The Indian Express published a report titled ‘Team Musk flags, Trump waves, but a fact-check: $21 million did not go to India for ‘voter turnout’, was for Bangladesh.’
The Indian Daily attempted to suggest that US President Donald Trump, Elon Musk and his team of nerds at DOGE all goofed up on numbers and somehow made the Himalayan blunder of mistaking Bangladesh for India.
“That $21 million, records accessed by The Indian Express show, was sanctioned in 2022 for Bangladesh, not India,” the report by The Indian Express alleged.
“At the centre of the dispute are two USAID grants on DOGE’s list that were channelled via the Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening (CEPPS), a group based in Washington, DC, which specialises in “complex democracy, rights and governance programming,” it further claimed.
The Indian Express claimed that there is no USAID-funded CEPPS project in India since 2008. It further alleged that the sum of $21 million matches that of the funds spent by USAID’s on ‘Amar Vote Amar’ project in Bangladesh in July 2022.
It stated that the purpose of the grant was changed to ‘Nagorik (Citizen) Program’ in November of that year.
The newspaper ironically agreed to the fact that DOGE’s list of cancelled grants included a $29.9-million USAID funding to Bangladesh (which was mentioned both by Donald Trump and the official tweet by DOGE).
Later, it went on to claim that DOGE and Trump mistook ‘Bangladesh’ for ‘India’ over the $21 million grant. The Indian Express claimed that the funds for ‘voter turnout’ in India were given to Bangladesh about 2.5 years ago.
This confidence with which the Indian daily touted their ‘fact-check’ is astonishing, given that both USAID and CEPPS have shut down their respective websites. At the same time, DOGE has not yet responded to the claims.
Throughout the article, The Indian Express failed to provide any direct evidence that could rule out the fact that no US federal agency projects were meant to ensure ‘voter turnout’ during Indian elections.
CEPPS, election interference and presence in India
OpIndia had accessed a document titled Review of the Fiscal Year 2024 United States Agency for International Development Budget, dated 26th April 2023, which categorically mentioned that USAID has paid $2 billion in funding to CEPPS for Elections and Political Processes (EPP) programmes.
Interestingly, CEPPS received 66% of USAID EPP funding in the Financial Year 2021. Furthermore, information gathered about Democratic Elections and Political Processes sheds more light on how billions of dollars have been used to directly interfere in elections worldwide under the guise of providing support to strengthen democracy.
CEPPS operates via three fronts: the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), the International Republican Institute (IRI), and the National Democratic Institute (NDI).
To make it evident that USAID has had a significant financial influence in Indian elections for years, it should be noted that CEPPS spent $318,614 in India in FY 2018, as clearly stated in its audit report. CEPPS’s funding in India came through IFES.
Now comes the shocking part. IFES, which signed an MoU with the Election Commission of India (ECI) in 2012 under then-Election Commissioner SY Quraishi, is not just funded by USAID but also by several private entities with questionable motives.
In May 2012, the Election Commission of India (ECI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) in New Delhi to develop and strengthen democratic institutions and electoral processes. According to the then-issued press release, the MoU aimed to facilitate knowledge exchange, joint training programmes, research, and capacity-building initiatives through ECI’s India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM). The agreement was signed by SY Quraishi, the then Chief Election Commissioner of India, and William Sweeney, President and CEO of IFES.
Considering the fact that IFES is heavily funded by USAID via CEPPS, other sources of its funding also need to be scrutinised. According to IFES’s “Our Partners & Donors” section, the Election Commission of India itself is listed as a funder alongside major public entities like USAID, the U.S. Department of State, and Australian Aid.
However, the real concern arises with IFES’s private funders, which include Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Open Society Foundations (OSF). Notably, OSF is owned by George Soros, a figure widely accused of funding anti-India activities. The fact that an organisation receiving funding from Soros has had a formal agreement with the Election Commission of India raises serious concerns about the extent of foreign influence over India’s electoral processes. This makes it imperative to question IFES’s real role and motives in India and how deeply it has interfered in Indian elections under the guise of collaboration.
The Election Commission of India’s (ECI) partnership with IFES did not end with the 2012 MoU—it continued under IIIDEM (India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management) and International Idea, a global intergovernmental organisation. IIIDEM, an ECI-established body, was founded in 2011—the same time when SY Quraishi signed the MoU with IFES. It is important to note that ECI is an autonomous body. This means that while the Government of India is not directly working with IFES, it is engaging with IIIDEM.
Rajdeep Sardesai, Mohammed Zubair hail report by The Indian Express as ‘gospel truth’
Rajdeep Sardesai, who was once taken off air peddling fake news during farmer protests, began mouthing platitudes of journalistic integrity and the need for ‘fact-checking’
“USAID $21 million for ‘vote turnout’ did NOT go to India but to Bangladesh!! US president confused Dhaka with Delhi!! BJP claimed monies were spent by Cong to topple Modi govt. Worse, so called ‘journalists’ put out identical unsourced charts on how monies were spent. NO basic fact checks!” he tweeted.
Fact check: USAID $21 million for ‘vote turnout’ did NOT go to India but to Bangladesh!! US president confused Dhaka with Delhi!! BJP claimed monies were spent by Cong to topple Modi govt. Worse, so called ‘journalists’ put out identical unsourced charts on how monies were spent.…
— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) February 21, 2025
Mohammed Zubair, the co-founder of Islamist propaganda outlet Alt News, also shared the misleading report by The Indian Express.
In a tweet, he claimed, “USAID $21 million for ‘vote turnout’ did NOT go to India but to Bangladesh. US president confused Dhaka with Delhi. The $21 million, records accessed by @IndianExpress show, was sanctioned in 2022 for Bangladesh, not India.”
USAID $21 million for ‘vote turnout’ did NOT go to India but to Bangladesh. US president confused Dhaka with Delhi. The $21 million, records accessed by @IndianExpress show, was sanctioned in 2022 for Bangladesh, not India.https://t.co/DKJqUP7TFg
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) February 21, 2025
Mohammed Zubair has a history of peddling fake news and was arrested in 2022 for hurting religious sentiments and promoting enmity.
BJP junks claims made by The Indian Express
Following the publication of the controversial report by The Indian Express, BJP spokesperson Amit Malviya came forward to junk the claims made by the newspaper.
“The Indian Express story discusses $21 million in funding to Bangladesh in 2022. However, the article misrepresents the reference to a $21 million funding tranche intended to ‘promote’ voter turnout in India. What Indian Express conveniently sidesteps is the 2012 Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Election Commission of India—under the leadership of S.Y. Quraishi—and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), an organization linked to George Soros’s Open Society Foundation, which is primarily funded by USAID,” he pointed out.
“Their report also remains silent on subsequent funding, beginning in 2014, under various categories aimed at interfering in India’s election process. Details of this funding were once available through annual filings on the now-defunct website of the Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening (CEPPS). CEPPS is a subset of IFES, which collaborates with USAID, the U.S. State Department, George Soros’s Open Society Foundation, and others,” Amit Malviya highlighted.
FAKE NEWS ALERT 🚨‼️
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) February 21, 2025
The Indian Express story discusses $21 million in funding to Bangladesh in 2022. However, the article misrepresents the reference to a $21 million funding tranche intended to ‘promote’ voter turnout in India.
What Indian Express conveniently sidesteps is… pic.twitter.com/niOaWXivm5
“You may be surprised to learn that IFES published a white paper on the role of Dalits in Indian elections. The keywords used bear a striking resemblance to Rahul Gandhi’s recent rhetoric on representation, participation, and influence. It is becoming increasingly clear that the Congress-led UPA systematically enabled the infiltration of India’s institutions by forces working against the nation’s interests—those who seek to weaken India at every opportunity,” he pointed out.
Amit Malviya concluded, “It is also evident that a section of India’s so-called “civil society” is rattled, fearing that more details will emerge, exposing many of the usual suspects who benefited from foreign funding. Their fear is real. The radical Left will strike back with the desperation of a snake writhing in the sand. Expect more attempts to discredit and deflect from these revelations—just like this one.”
