Trump admits to poll interference in India, BJP shares PM's clips to pin blame on Congress

NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday went hammer and tongs at the Congress party after US President Donald Trump acknowledged India's 2024 Lok Sabha election was "influenced" by the external forces to "get someone else elected".
Hours after Trump criticised the Biden dispensation's decision to disburse $21 million towards "voter turnout efforts" in India, the BJP IT department head Amit Malviya posted multiple clips of PM Modi claiming about the foreign influence during the parliamentary polls.
During the poll campaign in the summer elections last year, PM Modi was seen lashing out at the Congress over the "external influence".
"Nowadays influential people around the world have united to remove Modi but there is the blessing of nari shakti (women power) matra shakti (maternal power)... it's your suraskha kavach (protective shield) that Modi keeps working despite facing challenges," PM Modi said while addressing a rally in Karnataka's Chikkaballapur in April ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

In another rally at Chhattisgarh's Sarguja, PM Modi said: "Congresspeople and some influential people in the world lose their cool...if India grows in power, it would spoil the game of some influential people. Today, if India becomes self-reliant...some influential people would lose their jobs."
"Therefore, they want a weak government of Congress and the INDI alliance. The government with issues of infighting, which practices corruption. The history of Congress suggests that can destroy the nation for the greed of power," he added.

In a television interview PM Modi said: "The entire world trying to influence India's election, which they shouldn't do. They aren't giving their opinion or comment but influencing it. But they won't be able to influence it."
Further accusing Rahul Gandhi of "urging foreign powers to intervene in India’s internal affairs", BJP shared a clip from his visit to London in 2023 and said: "He has aligned himself with global networks seeking to undermine India’s strategic and geopolitical interests, acting as a tool for foreign agencies."

Earlier, Trump once again questioned the United States' decision to allocate $21 million for voter turnout efforts in India. Speaking at the FII PRIORITY Summit in Miami, he said, "$21 million for voter turnout, why do we need to spend $21 million for voter turnout in India? I guess they were trying to get somebody else elected."
"We have got to tell the Indian Government. Because when we hear that Russia spent about two thousand dollars in our country, it was a big deal. They took some internet ads for two thousand dollars. This is a total breakthrough," he added.
Senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad also attacked the Congress party for "resorting to conspiracies" and "maligning India's democracy".
"When people don’t vote for them (Congress), they resort to conspiracies, using foreign money to influence India’s elections. They malign India’s democracy, and we strongly condemn this. This blatant attempt at foreign interference in India’s democratic process is a matter of great shame," Prasad said.

BJP spokesperson CR Kesavan called Trump's statement a "smoking gun" which "exposes" the dangerous role of a foreign hand.
"President Trump's statement is a smoking gun which shockingly exposes the dangerous role of a foreign hand interfering and influencing the outcome of the Indian elections, but the million dollar question, rather the 21 million dollar question, is which were the Indian hands who were at cahoots with the foreign hands, receiving foreign funds to undermine Indian's democracy and destabilise India's statement..." said BJP spokesperson CR Kesavan.

On Wednesday, Trump also questioned the purpose behind providing $21 million to India for "voter turnout" and said that New Delhi is "one of the highest taxing countries in the world".
This came after Elon Musk-led DOGE’s (Department of Government Efficiency) disclosed that USAID contributed $21 million to EC allegedly for boosting voter turnout.