Revanth Reddy backs Elon Musk, hits out at ‘crony distractions’ in satcom row

Responding to Rahul Gandhi’s post directed to Elon Musk on X, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy expressed his support and stated that Congress governments have always ‘stood for digitisation and modernisation of India’.

Congress governments had always stood for digitisation and modernisation of India and the stellar reform to conceptualise the UPI and adopt mobile-based digital payments infrastructure was taken up under the Congress-led UPA-2 government in 2012-13. Today it stands out as a shining example of big Indian innovation.

India should welcome innovative solutions in cutting edge internet systems and cannot afford to weaken Brand India globally to appease crony distractions.

— Revanth Reddy (@revanth_anumula) October 8, 2026

Reddy posted, “Congress governments had always stood for digitisation and modernisation of India and the stellar reform to conceptualise the UPI and adopt mobile-based digital payments infrastructure was taken up under the Congress-led UPA-2 government in 2012-13. Today it stands out as a shining example of big Indian innovation. India should welcome innovative solutions in cutting edge internet systems and cannot afford to weaken Brand India globally to appease crony distractions.”

This came after the Centre, in a statement, said the country’s regulatory framework for satcom services is fair and non-discriminatory. “Licensees are required to demonstrate compliance with security conditions,” it said, without naming Musk. “Security assessment as part of this process is  currently underway,” it added.

But, doubling down on his earlier allegation, Musk said in a post on Thursday evening: “Starlink is licensed in over 165 countries and has spent five years complying with every single law and requirement of the government of India, so why still no license? Is Ambani the real boss of India?”

Welcome to India, Elon.

Wait till you discover the other guy.

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) October 8, 2026

Responding to this, Gandhi said in a post on X: “Welcome to India, Elon. Wait till you discover the other guy.”

Musk then responded with: “Thank you, Rahul. This is indeed troubling.”

In his earlier post on Wednesday night, Musk had said: “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!”

In another post, he said: “Starlink in India would enable high-speed, affordable Internet connectivity for those who can’t afford current prices or who don’t have a connection at all”.