A day after US President Donald Trump repeated that his predecessor Joe Biden approved a $21 million grant via USAID for “voter turnout in India,” the ruling BJP and the Congress have engaged in a heated exchange over the matter. While the BJP alleged that the said funds were used to influence the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress demanded the Centre release a white paper explaining the US agency’s support for government and non-government institutions over the last few decades.

The controversy has also brought Indian-American Veena Reddy, the former USAID India chief, under scrutiny,

Who is Veena Reddy?

1. Born in Andhra Pradesh, Veena Reddy holds a Juris Doctor (JD) degree from Columbia University School of Law. She has an MA and BA from the University of Chicago.

2. Before joining the US federal government, Ms Reddy worked as a corporate attorney in New York, London, and Los Angeles.

3. Veena Reddy was appointed as the mission director for the USAID in India and Bhutan in 2021. A career member of the US Senior Foreign Service, she was also the first Indian-American to lead the American agency’s operations in these countries.

4. Over the years, Ms Reddy has served in several countries, with a stint in Cambodia. As USAID’s Mission Director there, she oversaw food security, environment, health, education, child protection, and democracy and governance programs in the country. She has also been the agency’s Deputy Mission Director in Haiti, managing post-earthquake reconstruction efforts and economic growth initiatives. Veena Reddy also worked with USAID teams in Pakistan, Central Asia and Central America.

5. During her time in India, USAID’s funds to projects increased from $94.3 million in 2021 to $228 million in 2022. It dropped to $175.7 million in 2023, coming further down to $151.8 million in 2024, as per the government data. Ms Reddy decided to return to the US on July 17, 2024, just over a month after the Lok Sabha election results were announced.