In a list published on Musk’s social media platform X last week, Doge, a special group that Donald Trump created, claimed that a $21m grant distributed by USAid – the US agency for international development – to help “voter turnout in India” had been cancelled, as part of the president’s sweeping cuts to foreign aid.
In response, India’s opposition Congress party accused the BJP of spreading “fake news from America” while remaining silent as Trump and Musk insulted India.
Modi’s governing rightwing Bharatiya Janata party has long accused international civil society and human rights groups of trying to undermine it, forcing some of the world’s most respected organisations – from Amnesty International to Greenpeace – to shut down their operations in India.
The controversy also stirred up concern among some in India’s beleaguered civil society, who said they feared that the allegations against USAid would be used to justify a further crackdown on their funding and operations by the BJP government.
Elon Musk’s “department of government efficiency” has been accused of setting off a political firestorm in India after it claimed that the US government had been sending millions of dollars to support the Indian elections.
