Mumbai: 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.
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.
Trump had claimed the Biden administration allocated USD 21 million 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.
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