Malviya Accuses Musk of “External Meddling” Amid Election Controversy
Responding to the controversy regarding the DOGE post in the past, the former chief election officer S.Y. Quraishi wrote: "The report that appears in the section of Media concerning an MOU signed between Election Commission of India (ECI) back in 2012 at the time I was CEC in 2012, to fund one million dollars from an US agency to increase voter turnout is not based on any iota of truth.'
Malviya Accuses Musk of “External Meddling” Amid Election Controversy
Elon Musk has stirred a controversy regarding the elections in India by claiming that an US government-funded program under the Biden administration sunk $21 million (around the sum of Rs182 crore) to increase voter participation in India.
In a blog about X, Musk said the department of efficiency in government (DOGE) is charged with enhancing governance and reducing unnecessary expenditures, had canceled various projects that were funded with US tax dollars for one or another goal.
The list also included the sum of $486 million in grants for the "Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening" which included $21 million to support "voter turnout in India" and $22 million to support "inclusive and participatory political process" in Moldova.
In her budget interim for 2024-25 Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman set aside Rs1,000 crore to help with the running for the Lok Sabha elections. This was in addition to the Rs1,538.86 crore allocated to the general election in updated estimates for 2023-24.
Responding to Musk's post Senior BJP chief Amit Malviya referred to the grant as "external interference" in India's elections. He was unsure who the recipient was, and claimed that the beneficiary could be "not the ruling party for sure".
This is definitely an external interference in Indian Elections 2024 process. Who benefits from this? It's not the ruling party absolutely!" the BJP's IT department's head stated on the X.
He said that the cancelled program was a rebuke to the Congress-led UPA government that was allegedly responsible for allowing the infiltration into Indian institutions by those who were who were opposed to the interests of India.
In response to the controversy surrounding the DOGE post the former chief election commissioner S.Y. Quraishi wrote in X: "The report in a section of Media about an MoU by ECI in 2012, when I was CEC, for funding of certain million dollars by a US agency for raising voter turnout in India does not have an iota of fact."
