AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has rarely shied away from taking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. But when Elon Musk questioned the authority behind India’s decisions, the Hyderabad MP found himself challenging the BJP to stand up to the world’s richest man.
It has since taken on a political dimension, with the Opposition using the dispute to question the government’s ties with big business, while Owaisi has turned it into a test of the BJP’s own nationalist credentials. On October 8, the Communications Ministry rejected the allegations, calling suggestions of discrimination “baseless and misconceived.
“The sad thing is, why are the BJP and the Modi government so afraid of gorachamdi (white skin)?” he said, reported news agency ANI. “Whenever you see white skin,” Owaisi said, the BJP appears to become apprehensive. It said India’s satellite communications framework was fair and non-discriminatory, adding that the security assessments of three entities were underway and that all were at “broadly the same regulatory stage. The company said the government follows the same process for Indian and foreign applicants, adding that Jio’s satellite services were also awaiting clearances.
“We were always against Narendra Modi and will remain so. But how can Elon Musk say this kind of thing about our India’s Prime Minister?” he questioned. Speaking to journalists in Hyderabad on Thursday (October 16), after AIMIM approached the Supreme Court over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Owaisi said his opposition to Modi did not mean he would endorse a foreigner questioning India’s political leadership, ANI reported.
