India, Feb. 18 -- The debate over the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)'s decision to cut expenditure for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), including a fund allocated for "voter turnout in India," has spiralled into a heated exchange between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress, with the latter questioning BJP leader Smriti Irani's past association with USAID.

Congress leader and Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge pointed to Irani's profile on a government website, which mentioned her role as USAID's goodwill ambassador to India for a programme run by the World Health Organization (WHO). Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Kharge wrote, "According to the Government's official website, Ms ...