Overview

• He told students at EIA University in Colombia that the “single biggest risk” to India is an assault on its democratic system.
• He contrasted India’s decentralised, diverse polity with China’s authoritarian model, arguing India must preserve space for many languages, religions and ideas.
• He criticised demonetisation, GST and privatisation as damaging to small and medium businesses, and alleged centralised cronyism benefiting a few firms close to the prime minister.
• BJP figures including Shehzad Poonawalla, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Kangana Ranaut accused him of defaming India abroad, with some dubbing him the “Leader of Propaganda.”
• He also placed India in the global shift toward batteries and electric motors, saying China leads that transition and that India must build manufacturing within a democratic framework.