Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Union Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, spoke at the ‘Policy Next – The Big Karnataka Resurgence’ event in Bengaluru. He said that social and digital media conversations have more influence than conventional news platforms. He praised the Bharatiya Janata Party’s campaign in Karnataka and claimed the party has never discriminated. Chandrasekhar predicted that the ruling BJP will retain power with a minimum of 130 seats and a maximum of 224 seats in the legislative assembly. He criticised the Congress’s stance, stating that “when a political party starts playing fuzzy football doing appeasement, we have a problem with that.” He added that the BJP has done development politics, not freebie politics, and that “buying your votes by giving crumbs is the politics of the 70s.”
Chandrasekhar claimed that technology is transforming the lives of Indians. He cited examples such as the direct transfer of funds to beneficiaries and Aadhaar and UPI’s growth. He noted that India Stack is admired globally and will be showcased at the Global India Stack conference in June. The IT minister said that technology has a role in governance, in creating enlightened citizens and deepening public trust in the government. Meanwhile, he commended the government’s focus on ease of doing business and reduction in compliances, stating that it is an absolutely great time to be a start-up.
Finally, the minister predicted that the next wave in Karnataka and Bengaluru will be electronic manufacturing, electronic design and AI. The Karnataka Chapter of ‘Policy Next – The Big Karnataka Resurgence’ event discussed the opportunities and challenges for the state of Karnataka.
