THE ruling BJP and the Opposition led by Congress entered into a slugfest after The Indian Express reported Friday that US President Donald Trump’s claim of a “$21 million allocation to India for voter turnout” was meant for Bangladesh, and not India.Reacting to the report, the Congress accused the government of making insinuations on the party without even knowing that US funds had landed in the neighbouring country. The BJP repeated its charge that the leader of Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, was hand-in-glove with foreign powers to destabilise the NDA government because he lacked the popularity to defeat Prime Minister Narendra Modi.The Indian Express had reported that $21 million from the USAID in 2022 were sanctioned not for India but for Bangladesh ostensibly for political and civic engagement among Bangladesh students in the run up to the January 2024 elections.Also Read | $21 million for 'voter turnout' | USAID: MEA says ‘deeply disturbing’, being looked at by ministries, agenciesAddressing a press conference, Congress leader Pawan Khera said, “The $21 million went to NGOs in Bangladesh… We had no idea. Does India not get impacted by instability in Bangladesh? It impacts India in a major way.”Khera said everyone accepted funds (from USAID) in the past, but alleged the BJP was selectively attacking the Congress by making one-sided claims. “When Smriti Irani was brand ambassador of USAID and was protesting with a cylinder in hand, was USAID behind that protest?” Khera sought to know.CPI (M) leader Brinda Karat said the first lesson is to check facts. “Don’t trust Trump, don’t trust Elon Musk because they make statements, shooting their mouths off without factual basis,” Karat said.Read | Congress demands white paper on USAID funding after BJP flags Trump’s statementBJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said president Trump had said on record that $21 million were sanctioned for India, and that DOGE had posted on its verified handle that this amount was meant for India, apart from other amounts sanctioned for Moldova and Bangladesh.Story continues below this ad“US president Donald Trump said that USAID was sending funds to interfere in the election process in India. Even before the Lok Sabha polls, Prime Minister Modi and others had raised the matter that foreign powers were intervening in the Indian election process in order to remove Modi,” he said.Alleging that the Leader of Opposition was indulging in anti-India activities, Bhatia said, “Why does he do it…He cannot defeat Modi on the basis of his popularity and thus takes help from foreign powers.”Bhatia said while $2115 million had come to the government of India between 2004 and 2013 — the tenure of the UPA government, only $1.5 million came to India when Modi was the Prime Minister.Also Read | Who is former USAID India chief Veena Reddy?“This is because they know Narendra Modi ji will not sell India’s interests to a foreign power, but Congress can compromise India’s sovereignty,” he said.Story continues below this adEarlier, Congress’s Khera accused the RSS of having connived with the Americans against Congress governments. “You know how USAID andFord Foundation were used against the UPA government when Anna Hazare was protesting,” he said.Khera also claimed that USAID provided $100 million in funding during Covid. As for the BJP’s charge that US money came to the Election Commission of India in 2012, Khera wondered whether the Congress arranged for it only to lose elections in 2014.