World shifting to new energy system, India stuck in outdated economic thinking: Rahul Gandhi
New Delhi, Feb 6 (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said the world is shifting to a new energy system, where electric motors, batteries, and optics will be the most crucial technologies, yet India "remains stuck in outdated economic thinking, controlled by monopolies like Reliance and Adani".
The Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha said when power is no longer concentrated in a few hands, whether in business or government, it transforms everything.
Gandhi made the remarks in a post accompanying a video on his YouTube channel on his recent interaction with students from Nagaland.
"Spoke with students from Nagaland recently and realized how little we are taught about their culture - that's not education, that's erasure. The Northeast should be far more central to India's vision and development," he said.
Gandhi said the real conversation during the interaction, though, was about the future.
"The world is shifting to a new energy system, where electric motors, batteries, and optics will be the most crucial technologies. Yet India remains stuck in outdated economic thinking, controlled by monopolies like Reliance and Adani. Our policies still favour fossil fuels, while China and the US race ahead in EVs, AI, and battery tech," the Congress leader said.
"This isn't just an economic shift -- it's a power shift. Take cars, for example. Traditional engines are centralized power sources, but in EVs, power is decentralized -- batteries and motors reshape the entire design. The same is happening across energy and industry," Gandhi said.
When power is no longer concentrated in a few hands, whether in business or government, it transforms everything -- our economy, politics, even the nature of war, he said.
"We need to bring these conversations to universities, to young minds - because we're on the brink of a paradigm shift. If we don't adapt, we won't just fall behind in industry - we'll lose control over our own future. The first step to shaping it is understanding it," he said.
In the video, Gandhi is told by the students that they experience racism due to their looks and the Congress leader tells them that it is the result of ignorance.
When students ask him about his recent address in the Lok Sabha in which he talked about the shift to an electric motor, Gandhi demonstrates how an EV car is different from the petrol/diesel one and asserts that it is about decentralising the power.
Claiming that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Make in India' initiative has failed, Gandhi on Monday had presented an alternative vision of greatly enhancing the participation of Dalits, tribals and OBCs, as well as ensuring that the energy and mobility revolution is not given up to the Chinese.
He, however, had conceded that successive governments, be it the Congress-led UPA or the the BJP-led NDA, have not been able to tackle unemployment and give a clear cut answer to the youth on employment.
Speaking on the Motion of Thanks to the President's address, Gandhi had centred his speech around on what a presidential address under an INDIA bloc government would look like.
As I said in my Lok Sabha speech, the future of mobility will change everything.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) February 6, 2025
I delved a little deeper into how vehicles will change in this new revolution with a group of enthusiastic students from Nagaland.
It’s imperative our education system adapts to the paradigm… pic.twitter.com/vijRvu0u2A
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Sujit Nair raises concerns over speculation of DMK-AIADMK understanding to block TVK
Chennai: Journalist and political commentator Sujit Nair has expressed concern over speculation that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam could explore a post-poll understanding to prevent Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam from forming the government in Tamil Nadu.
In a social media post, Sujit Nair said the election verdict in Tamil Nadu reflected a clear public demand for political change and argued that the mandate should be respected irrespective of political preferences.
Referring to reports and political discussions surrounding a possible understanding between the DMK and AIADMK, he said he hoped such developments remained only speculative conversations and did not turn into reality.
Nair stated that if such an alliance were to take shape, it would raise serious questions about ideological politics in the country. He said TVK had emerged through a democratic electoral process and that the legitimacy to govern in a parliamentary democracy comes from the people’s verdict.
According to him, attempts to prevent an electoral winner from forming the government through unexpected political arrangements may be constitutionally valid, but many people could view them as politically opportunistic.
He further said that such a move could particularly affect the political image of the DMK, which has historically projected itself around ideology, social justice and opposition politics. Nair said that in ideological terms, the DMK appeared closer to TVK than to the AIADMK, and joining hands with its long-time political rival only to remain in power could weaken its broader political narrative.
He added that the same questions would apply to the AIADMK as well, as the party had spent decades positioning itself against the DMK and such an arrangement could create discomfort among its cadre and supporters.
Drawing a comparison with Maharashtra politics in 2019, Nair said he had expressed similar views when the Shiv Sena formed an alliance with the Indian National Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party after the Assembly elections.
He said post-poll alliances between long-standing political rivals often create a public perception that ideology and electoral mandates become secondary when political power equations come into play.
Nair also said such developments increase public cynicism towards politics and reinforce the belief among voters that ideology is often sidelined after elections.
He maintained that the Tamil Nadu verdict was emphatic and said respecting both the spirit and substance of the mandate was important for the credibility of democratic politics.
