The Lok Sabha witnessed an uproar on Monday when the ruling BJP, citing the Donald Trump administration’s action against USAID, targeted Congress and the Gandhi family while seeking a probe into the USAID-funded Indian groups.
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey demanded a probe into whether Congress and the Gandhi family-controlled Rajiv Gandhi Foundation had received USAID through George Soros’ Open Society Foundations (OSF) for conducting activities, including the campaign for a caste census and against the Agniveer scheme introduced by the government. He claimed OSF received ₹5,000 crore from USAID to “break up India”.
He raised the issue during zero hour. When Dubey started asking questions, leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi left the House. As Dubey proceeded further, Congress MPs, along with some DMK MPs, entered the well and raised slogans such as “Modi-Adani government hai hai”. As the Congress protest continued, the chair adjourned the House till 2 pm. Later, some Congress MPs met Speaker Om Birla and objected to the charges made by Dubey.
Bharatiya Janata Party MP Nishikant Dubey on Monday alleged that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) had been funding organisations in India which worked to create unrest in the country and asked the Centre to initiate a probe into this.
Raising the issue during the Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha, Mr. Dubey said recently the United States has seen a change in government and President Donald Trump has “shut down USAID on the basis that it was spending money only to make different governments across the world collapse”.
USAID is an independent agency of the U.S. government that manages foreign aid and development assistance.
Mr. Dubey claimed the USAID funded organisations carried out protests against the Agniveer initiative of the government, backed caste census, and supported Naxalism in the country.
As the Jharkhand MP made the charges, several Congress members rose in protest and trooped into the well of the House. The MPs wanted to raise a point of order which was disallowed by Sandhya Ray, who was in chair.
The Congress MPs later met Speaker Om Birla to register their objections to Mr. Dubey being allowed to make unsubstantiated claims in the House.
