NEW DELHI: The BJP on Thursday said that US President Donald Trump's latest remarks on the USAID funding to India was a "reaffirmation" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's assertion during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls campaign that foreign powers were trying to stop him from coming to power.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has aligned himself with global networks seeking to undermine India's strategic and geopolitical interests while "acting as a tool for foreign agencies", alleged BJP's IT department head Amit Malviya, targeting the grand old party following the US president's remarks.
Addressing an event in Miami on Thursday, Trump once again questioned the USAID funding of USD 21 million for "voter turnout" in India and said "I guess they were trying to get somebody else elected".
Latching on to Trump's remarks, Malviya in a series of posts on X said Prime Minister Modi had warned of foreign influence, not once, but on multiple occasions during the 2024 election campaigns.
He also posted a video in which Trump was heard making such remarks.
"Now, former (sic) US President Donald Trump has confirmed that there was indeed an attempt to influence the Indian election and install someone other than Prime Minister Modi," he said.
US President Trump's claim that money was being pumped into India to influence election results in the country is a "reaffirmation" of Prime Minister Modi's assertion during the 2024 campaign that foreign powers were trying to stop him from coming to power, the BJP leader added.
Targeting the Congress, Malviya alleged that ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Rahul Gandhi was in London in March 2023, "urging foreign powers", from the US to Europe, to intervene in India's internal affairs.
"He has aligned himself with global networks seeking to undermine India's strategic and geopolitical interests acting as a tool for foreign agencies," the BJP leader charged.
