“Surrender Gandhi”: BJP Targets Rahul After Musk Exchange on X

BJP’s Ram Madhav says India is not a “banana republic” and spectrum will be allotted by rule of law. Read his attack on Rahul Gandhi over the Starlink row

PGurus Newsdesk

October 9, 2026

Musk says Starlink waited 5 years for a licence. Now Indian politics is split over it. Here’s the full story

Madhav says Jio, Airtel and Starlink are all waiting for spectrum and that rules, not pressure, will decide

The BJP on Friday criticised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his comments on Elon Musk’s Starlink. The party said spectrum allocation in India will follow the law strictly and without discrimination.

“Not a banana republic”

BJP leader Ram Madhav said India is not a “banana republic” and that every decision will go through proper systems, rules and laws. He added that the “oligarchs” the Opposition keeps hinting at are also waiting for spectrum, and that Jio and Airtel are in the same queue as Starlink.

The “Surrender Gandhi” jibe

Madhav then turned on Gandhi. He said Gandhi used to tell the BJP that it surrenders in front of Elon Musk and Trump, and asked how he had suddenly become “Surrender Gandhi.” Madhav called it a sudden U-turn and pointed out that Congress’s own Jairam Ramesh had earlier described Starlink as a national security risk. He also asked what the party had received in the meantime to now step up in service of Musk.

Jab at the UPA years

Madhav also said there was massive corruption over spectrum during the UPA government, and that spectrum was sold in a completely reckless manner.

How the row began

The comments follow Musk’s claim that Starlink has been unable to get a licence in India despite complying with the law for five years. Gandhi responded on X with “Welcome to India, Elon,” and Musk replied by thanking him. Musk had also asked whether industrialist Mukesh Ambani was the “real boss of India.”

Congress’s position

Congress leaders said Gandhi’s intervention was about growing monopolisation and corporate influence, not an endorsement of Musk or Starlink. P Chidambaram was quoted as saying the point was that India is a monopoly, if not a duopoly.

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