Elon Musk’s DOGE Cancels $21 Million Outlay for India, BJP Fumes

The Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has decided to slash its expenditures by cancelling millions of dollars in funding for various countries, including the $21 million allocated for “voter turnout in India.”

Driving sharp criticism from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the political outfit alleged, “external interference in India’s electoral process. The party further asked: “Who gains from this? Not the ruling party for sure!”

The U.S. has decided to cut down a $21 million program aimed at increasing voter turnout in India and another $29 million aimed at bolstering Bangladesh's political landscape, DOGE authorities said.

DOGE announced on X, “US taxpayer dollars were going to be spent on the following items, all of which have been cancelled.”

The development comes days after PM Narendra Modi met US President Donald Trump at White House and made several announcements to strengthen India-US relations.

BJP’s response

BJP’s Amit Malviya reacted to the announcement, saying, “- $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!”

Notably, DOGE aimed to disburse funds in various countries including India and Bangladesh.

These nations included Liberia, where a disbursement of a $1.5 million program aimed at boosting voter turnout in the country was scrapped. Similarly, Mali also saw a cut of $14 million that aimed at promoting social cohesion initiatives. Cambodia and Serbia are among the major countries affected by DOGE’s actions.