Ex-poll body chief Quraishi denies US funding claim for voter turnout in India​on February 17, 2025 at 5:51 am

Ex-poll body chief Quraishi denies US funding claim for voter turnout in India

​Ex-poll body chief Quraishi denies US funding claim for voter turnout in India Ex-poll body chief Quraishi denies US funding claim for voter turnout in India   

Former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India SY Quraishi refuted reports that the United States provides funding for boosting voter turnout in India and termed the reports “completely false and malicious”. His reaction came after Elon Musk-led Department Of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced on Sunday that it is cancelling $21 million grant to India for “voter turnout”.

“The report in a section of Media about an MoU by ECI in 2012 when I was CEC, for funding of a certain million dollars by a US agency for raising voter turnout in India does not have an iota of fact,” the former CEC said in a post on X.

SY Quraishi served as 17th Chief Election Commissioner of India from 30 July 2010 to 10 June 2012.

He added that there was a MOU with IFES in 2012 when he was CEC like they 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.”

Quraishi clarified that there was no financing or even promise of finance involved in MoU, and it was made clear in the MoU that there would be no financial and legal obligations.

“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. 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,” he said.

BJP ASKS ‘WHO GAINS?’

Soon after DOGE shared the post with the announcement of fund cuts amid the budget overall under Donald Trump’s administration, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) reacted to it questioning “who gains” from this “external interference in India’s electoral process”.

BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya wrote, “$486M to the “Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening,” including $22M for “inclusive and participatory political process” in Moldova and $21M for voter turnout in India. $21M for voter turnout? This definitely is external interference in India’s electoral process. Who gains from this? Not the ruling party for sure!”

DOGE, established under the Trump administration to oversee and cut government spending, on Sunday announced a list of cancelled expenditures, including $21 million for “voter turnout in India.” The department claimed that US taxpayer dollars had been allocated to various international projects, including election-related activities in Moldova, Bangladesh, Nepal, and other regions.

PM’S ADVISOR REACTS

Sanjeev Sanyal, Member of the Economic Advisory Council to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, reacted to DOGE’s claim and termed United States Agency for International Development (USAID) “biggest scam”.

He wrote on X, “Would love to find out who received the US$21mn spent to improve “voter turnout in India” and the US$29mn to “strengthening political landscape in Bangladesh”; not to mention the US$29mn spend to improve “fiscal federalism” in Nepal. USAID is the biggest scam in human history.”