Overview

• On May 30, Sabeer Bhatia challenged the value of India surpassing Japan in GDP by sharing footage of slums, clogged drains and white foam on the Yamuna River.
• Mohandas Pai hit back on X by branding Bhatia an "economic refugee" and accusing him of being a "hate monger" who downplays contributions from those who stayed and built India.
• Bhatia countered that focusing on lives at the bottom of the economic pyramid would uplift all metrics and called for mass education driven by artificial intelligence instead of rote learning.
• NITI Aayog CEO BVR Subrahmanyam confirmed India’s ascent to the world’s fourth-largest economy, intensifying scrutiny of GDP growth versus per capita gains.
• Social media users remain split, with some applauding Pai’s patriotic defense of national progress and others echoing Bhatia’s insistence on prioritizing distribution and quality-of-life measures.