Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Friday called for an investigation into the claims made by US President Donald Trump that the USD 21 million funding to India for increasing 'voter turnout' was a "kickback" scheme.
Addressing the gathering at the inauguration of the global conference of mediation in Delhi, Dhankhar said, "Recently, the revelation that occurred, I was stunned to see it. What has been revealed by the President of the United States with full responsibility is that the democratic process of this country was sought to be modulated, manipulated to dent and taint the purity of our election system."
"I am sure it emanates from a person in authority. One thing is right because that is factual. The amount was given, and it is not a small amount," he added.
The Vice President suggested adopting "Chanakya's teaching" to get to the root of the issue.
"It should be destroyed from the root. We must find out who those people are who accepted such an invasion. The brutal assault on our democratic values. It is our national duty to retaliate against those forces," he said.
"We must expose them, because only then will India rise to the pinnacle we envision, which is no longer a dream but our goal – a developed India,” Dhankhar said.
On Thursday, Trump claimed that the USD 21 million funding to India for 'voter turnout' was a "kickback" scheme, as he continued to attack the previous Biden administration over the now cancelled financial aid.
"USD 21 million for voter turnout in India. Why are we caring about India's turnout? We have got enough problems. We want our own turnout,” said Trump.