On February 16, the Trump administration's DOGE said USAID has cancelled USD 21 million funding for "voting in India", a statement which triggered a fierce tussle between the BJP and the opposition parties led by the Congress
Sharad Pawar. File Pic
US President Donald Trump's recent statement about funds related to polls in India are very serious if they are true, NCP (SP) supremo Sharad Pawar said on Monday, reported news agency PTI.
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He was responding to a media query on Tesla chief Elon Musk's comments against EVMs.
"What I feel most serious is that Trump has made some contribution in our elections. If that statement is true, then it is very serious," Pawar told reporters.
Pawar emphasised the need for clarity and transparency regarding any external interference in India's democratic processes.
On February 16, the Trump administration's DOGE said USAID has cancelled USD 21 million funding for "voting in India", a statement which triggered a fierce tussle between the BJP and the opposition parties led by the Congress, reported PTI.
Trump had claimed the Biden administration allocated USD 21 million in funding to India for voter turnout.
Musk had, in June last year, put out a message on X claiming electronic voting machines should be eliminated as the 'risk of being hacked by humans or AI, while small, is still too high". He was reacting to allegations of irregularities due to EVMs in Puerto Rico polls.
Anyone with self-respect would've quit, says Pawar on Munde
Anyone with self-respect would have quit, NCP (SP) supremo Sharad Pawar said on Monday amid demands that Maharashtra minister Dhananjay Munde resign after his close aide was held in a case that has made national headlines, reported PTI.
Munde, MLA from Parli in Beed, is under fire from the opposition and some Mahayuti colleagues after close aide Walmik Karad was held in an extortion case linked to the abduction and brutal murder of sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh in Massajog in Beed on December 9.
"Anyone with self-respect would have quit," Pawar said even as Munde has dug in his heels claiming he has no link to the Massajog case, reported PTI.
Commenting on the allegations against Munde and NCP minister Manikrao Kokate being sentenced to two years by a court for submitting forged documents to obtain houses meant for the Low Income Group, Pawar said "The picture is not good for Maharashtra", reported PTI.
Such behaviour will have a wide impact on the state, the NCP (SP) chief asserted.
"In the past, some people who faced such allegations stepped down from their posts immediately. The inquiry started after that. However, I do not think these people (the Mahayuti government) are even distantly related to morality. Why seek anything from them on moral grounds," Pawar said.
(With inputs from PTI)
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