The Congress on Wednesday dubbed the Centre a “Galgotia Government” amid the controversy over the alleged use of a Chinese robotic dog, and reminded that many of India’s leading global tech executives were educated at premier institutes established and nurtured under governments led by the grand old party.
“This ‘Galgotia Government’ has only nourished Galgotia like Universities in India,” Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera wrote on X.
Khera also mentioned that Google CEO Sundar Pichai, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna, and CEO of Palo Alto Networks Nikesh Arora studied at the IITs – institutions envisioned by India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
Khera reminded that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella studied at Manipal Institute of Technology, founded by the family of T. A. Pai, who served as the Union minister for railways, heavy industries, and steel and mines in the Indira Gandhi cabinet.
Ex-CEO of Adobe Shantanu Narayen studied at Osmania University, established in 1918 by the former Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Osman Ali Khan, while Chanel CEO Leena Nair studied at Walchand College of Engineering, founded in 1947 and sustained over decades by successive Congress governments, said Khera.
He added that Novartis CEO Vasant Narasimhan completed all his education abroad.
"India’s global standing rests on decades of institution-building and vision shaped under Congress governments – unlike the BJP’s 'GALA-GHONTIA' approach to education today, " Khera said.
On Wednesday morning, authorities asked the Galgotias University to vacate its stall at the AI Summit Expo in New Delhi “immediately”, after the private varsity from Uttar Pradesh’s Noida showcased a China-made robot dog, named "Orion” and the video went viral.
IT secretary S. Krishnan said, "We do not want any exhibits to continue," adding that the government does not want any exhibitor to showcase items that are not their own.
The issue erupted after Neha Singh, a professor of communications at the university, demonstrated the robotic dog Orion to DD News on Tuesday, saying, "It has been developed by the Centre of Excellence at Galgotias University."
Social media users pointed out that the robot was a Unitree Go2, manufactured by China’s Unitree Robotics and commonly used in research and education worldwide.
