New Delhi: In a spate of controversial remarks, Rahul Gandhi‘s political advisor Sam Pitroda on Tuesday said that he was ashamed of the fact that Indians think it a big deal for Elon Musk to come and invest in India. He said that he was also ashamed of Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s recently-held conversation with Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
“As a technocrat, I was ashamed of the conversation PM Modi had with Bill Gates. How can the PM take credit for a country’s every little electronic achievements?,” asked Pitroda, adding that PM Modi has “no respect or gratitude for software guys who had done it.”
Saying that he is more interested in the rickshaw-pullers of India than electronic vehicles, Pitroda said, “Musk comes in. He will announce Joint Venture. Some more electronic cars will be sold. PM Modi and Elon Musk will give advice to each other and everyone will clap. But, what about the poor rickshawallah? To me, that is more important than Musk coming. We only celebrate power and profit. We don’t save planet and people. I want to worry about rickshawalla not EV.”
Saying that to think about EVs are a “good thing,” Pitroda said, “But, don’t tell me that this is the biggest achievement of this government.” Pitroda said that there was nothing “special” in it as every country is doing the same thing for the future. Pitroda was speaking virtually to news agency ANI on his newly-launched book ‘The Idea of Democracy’.