Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday, slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that the government has come under foreign pressure and compromised India’s control over its most valuable asset in the age of Artificial Intelligence (AI), that is data.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha, and later in a detailed post on X (formerly Twitter), Rahul Gandhi said India missed a historic opportunity to shape the global AI future on its own terms.
The AI revolution is here – bringing both threats and opportunities.
Our IT and services sector, a shining star of our economy, is at risk, and thousands of software engineers and professionals will lose their livelihoods if we do not prepare for the storm that is coming.
But…
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) February 11, 2026 “Data is the petrol which fuels the AI engine,” he wrote on X. Explaining India’s importance in the global AI race, he added, “Everybody talks about AI, but talking about AI is like talking about the internal combustion engine without talking about petrol,” he said.
‘A helpless PM Modi has surrendered’
Soon after his Lok Sabha speech, Rahul Gandhi took to X and accused the Modi government of giving in to US pressure under the guise of digital trade reforms.
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“The AI revolution is here – bringing both threats and opportunities,” he wrote, warning that India’s IT and services sector could face large-scale job losses if the country does not prepare.
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Putting spotlight on India’s strengths, he added, “India’s greatest asset is our brilliant people and the enormous data we create.” However, Rahul Gandhi said an upcoming AI Summit should have been a moment of global leadership for India.
“Instead, a helpless PM Modi, has surrendered to the US ‘chokehold’ in the trade deal,” he alleged, claiming that any move to use Indian data for national benefit would now be opposed.
Pointing to the dominance of global tech firms, he wrote, “Already, large foreign companies enjoy a near monopoly on our data through Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Youtube, Amazon, Android, etc. With this deal, India will struggle to safely store the data of 1.5 billion Indians in India, get transparency in their source codes and algorithms, tax the profits they make using our data.”
“It’s a shame that our Prime Minister has been pressured to hand over India’s prime resource to a foreign power,” Rahul Gandhi said.
Government, BJP reject charges as ‘false and misleading’
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party responded strongly, calling Rahul Gandhi’s claims baseless. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government is actively promoting data localisation.
“Govt incentivising data centres so that data stays in India,” she said, rejecting the claim that Indian data would be sent abroad.
BJP chief spokesperson and Lok Sabha MP Anil Baluni issued a point-by-point rebuttal, accusing Rahul Gandhi of misquoting official documents.
“He did not merely critique the document. He misquoted it, misread it, and then built an argument on that distortion,” Baluni said. On data concerns, he said the Union Budget offers tax breaks for companies setting up data centres in India till 2047.
“More data centres in India equals more opportunities for our IT companies, and equals data localisation in the long run. The data of 1.4 billion Indians stays in India,” he asserted. Baluni also rejected claims on digital taxes, agriculture, tariffs and energy security, saying Rahul Gandhi relied on outdated US fact sheets and incomplete assessments. |
