He said, “I don't know him. I have never met him. Have seen him speak at public events once or twice in New York, but have neither interacted with him nor gone to him. I have no information about him.”
Asked about the influence of the world's influential industrialists, such as Elon Musk and George Soros, on politics and policy decisions, Pitroda said that these people do have some influence, but they play their own roles along with politicians and other stakeholders.
“They have some influence. But they do their job, politicians do their job and people do their job. Everyone has their role and everyone has their contribution,” he said.
The Congress leader said influential people may try to bring about changes in policies to suit their interests, but that does not mean they run a country.
“They try to change policies to their advantage, but they don't run a country. Unless a country has a population of two lakh, that might be a different matter,” he said.
Pitroda also commented on the conversation between Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Elon Musk on social media platform X. This conversation took place on the issue related to the launch of satellite internet services of Musk's company Starlink in India.
He rejected the interpretation that Rahul Gandhi's conversation with Musk should be seen as support for allotting spectrum to his company.
Pitroda said, “I don't think Rahul Gandhi supported it. Rahul Gandhi is not saying that spectrum should be given to Musk. Don't misunderstand this. Rahul Gandhi basically responded to a short message from him, which is absolutely fine. It didn't mean anything special.”
Advising to avoid drawing political meaning from this conversation, he said that Rahul Gandhi's reply should not be seen as a promise that if Congress comes to power, Musk will be given a license.
On this issue, Pitroda said, “It does not mean that if Rahul Gandhi comes to power, he will give license to Elon Musk. It does not mean that. But people interpret it differently.”