Congress rebuffs BJP's charge related to USAID

New Delhi: Congress on Monday rejected BJP's charge of having used "external interference" in elections through USAID to the Election Commission of India via the International Foundation for Electoral System to influence elections during the UPA era.

Pointing out that it was the Congress that was in power in 2012, party spokesperson Pawan Khera asked why the party should have sought external funding to "sabotage" its own case in elections and pointed out that it was BJP that won in the 2014 elections.

Responding to the charge that BJP's IT cell head Amit Malviya had made, Khera said in a social media post: "Someone tell this clown that in 2012, when ECI allegedly got this funding from USAID, the ruling party was Congress. So, by his logic: Ruling party (Congress) was sabotaging its own electoral prospects by getting this so-called 'external interference'. And that the opposition (BJP) won the 2014 elections because of Soros/USAID."