Stating that he never imagined he could be disqualified from the Lok Sabha, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday asserted that he isn’t looking for international support for his fight against the BJP.
Speaking at an interactive session at Stanford University, Mr. Gandhi said it was his right to build a relationship with the group of Indian students and wondered why Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not do the same and “answer some tough questions”.
In March, the BJP had accused Mr. Gandhi of seeking “international support” after the Congress leader, at an event in London, had said that “a chunk of democracy in India had come undone”.
At another event with Silicon Valley-based start-up entrepreneurs, who have been at the forefront of cutting-edge technologies in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), Mr. Gandhi had discussions with the experts on various topics such as AI, big data, machine learning and their implications on governance, social welfare measures and also disinformation and misinformation.
Talking about the use of Pegasus spyware, the Congress leader said he is not worried about his phone being tapped and joked by saying “Hello! Mr Modi” on his iPhone.
At Stanford University, Mr. Gandhi delivered a lecture on ‘The New Global Equilibrium’ and later had an interactive session with the audience.
On a question about Opposition parties seeking international support in their fight against the ruling BJP, Mr. Gandhi said, ”No! I am not seeking support from anyone. I am very clear that our fight is our fight and BJP likes to twist with that, it’s not. I am not seeking support from anyone, but there is a group of young students from India here, and I want to have relationship with them. It is my right to do it.”
When Mr. Gandhi wondered why Prime Minister Modi doesn’t come here and answer some hard questions, the moderator said that the Prime Minister was always welcome to visit Stanford.
While the Congress leader said he agreed with the Government of India’s neutral stance on the war between Russia and Ukraine, he noted that China-India relations have hit a rough patch.
“It’s tough right now. I mean, they [China] have occupied some of our territory. It’s rough. It’s not too easy [a relationship]. India cannot be pushed around. That is something that is not going to happen,” Mr. Gandhi replied on being asked how he sees the relations between the two countries evolve.
During his interaction with Silicon Valley-based start-up entrepreneurs at the Plug and Play Tech Centre of Sunnyvale (California), Mr. Gandhi described data as the “new gold” that needs appropriate regulations on safety and security.
“I presume my iPhone is being tapped. You need to establish rules with regard to the privacy of data as a nation and also as an individual,” he said as he jokingly uttered, “Hello! Mr Modi!” on his mobile phone.
He said if a state decides to tap one’s phone, no one can stop it. “If the nation is interested in tapping the phone, then this is not a battle worth fighting. I think whatever I do and work, is available to the government,” he claimed.
