NEW DELHI: Amid a raging controversy over alleged funding by USAID for raising voter turnout in India, Congress on Tuesday said the official govt website showed BJP neta Smriti Irani as a former “goodwill ambassador” of the US agency. Congress functionaries accused Irani of being the “real agent” of billionaire investor George Soros, a charge refuted by BJP.
Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge, in a post on X, said, “According to the govt’s official website, Smriti Irani’s bio states that she has served as the USAID ‘Goodwill Ambassador’ to India.”
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera responded to the post, saying, “This is brilliant. We finally have the answer to BJP’s favourite question – Rasoe Mein Kaun Tha? (who was in the kitchen). The actual agent of George Soros turns out to be Smriti Irani.”
BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya refuted the allegations, saying WHO appointed Irani as the ORS Goodwill Brand Ambassador from 2002 to 2005. “At the time, she was a household name due to the immense popularity of the television serial ‘Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi’,” he said. “The WHO campaign featuring Smriti Irani was endorsed by the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC), among others, which permitted promotional material to be displayed on its buses. Sheila Dikshit was the Chief Minister of Delhi then,” Malviya added. “Here is an excerpt from a report by IIM Indore, which documented the program’s success. Do I even need to mention that the Congress-led UPA was in power between 2004 and 2005?” Malviya added. Khera responded saying, the “BJP IT cell coolies are invoking Sheila Dikshit as the one who started the WHO ORS initiative, and thinking they will be able to embarrass us with that. It is something to be proud of”.