The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday lashed out at Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi over his response to SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk’s “Ambani” post on Starlink operations in India, saying spectrum allocation would be carried out strictly in accordance with the law and without discrimination.
BJP leader Ram Madhav said India was not a "banana republic", and that companies such as Jio, Airtel and Starlink were also waiting for spectrum allocation.
“The whole country would like to know what happened overnight. He (Gandhi) should explain to the country. As far as the spectrum issue is concerned, we have seen that under the UPA government, their leaders were involved in spectrum-related corruption cases. The spectrum was sold in an indiscriminate way, leading to huge corruption allegations. This is the Modi government. Everything will happen in a transparent and non-discriminatory way,” BJP national vice president Ram Madhav said.
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On Thursday, the Centre rejected allegations that Starlink's satellite internet services were being blocked by domestic business interests, leading Musk to ask if "Ambani is the real boss of India". Without taking any names, Gandhi later responded to Musk’s post on X, saying: "Welcome to India, Elon. Wait till you discover the other guy".
Madhav said the due processes for the license are being followed.
{{/usCountry}}Madhav said the due processes for the license are being followed.
{{/usCountry}}"Elon Musk must remember that he is not dealing with a banana republic. He is dealing with a big country which is respected, whose leadership is respected globally. You should also be respectful towards this country and its leadership. Here there is a proper system, non-discriminatory system in place to allocate spectrum and whom he was seeking to ridicule as oligarchs. Mr Musk was seeking to ridicule some of our leaders as oligarchs,” he said.
The BJP leader said Indian companies such as Jio and Airtel, along with Starlink, are also waiting for approvals.
“In a very non-discriminatory way, the Government of India will take its decision at an appropriate time. But what is more surprising is that Mr Rahul Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition, who earlier always used to accuse us of surrendering before the American leadership, before Musk, today, he has become a big champion of Elon Musk's cause,” Madhav said.
On Wednesday, Musk alleged that Starlink was being “blocked by certain oligarchs” in India to protect their “monopolistic chokehold” over the country. “Unfortunately, we are being blocked by certain oligarchs in order to maintain their monopolistic chokehold on the Indian people. You can guess who they are … This is a crime against the people of India!” he said in response to a post arguing that India needs Starlink to bridge connectivity gaps in underserved areas.
The Centre on Thursday dismissed the allegation, saying the country’s regulatory framework for satellite communication services was “fair and non-discriminatory”.