Zoho CEO on Mohandas Pai’s ‘Bengaluru ignored’ post: Stop North-South politics

Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu appealed to people not to create a North-South divide while responding to a post of Padma Shri awardee and former Infosys Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Mohandas Pai in which he slammed the Centre for “excluding Bengaluru” as one of the places to set up the AI Centre Excellence.
Pai kicked off a debate on social media after he questioned Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnav on why Bengaluru, which has long been regarded as the country’s IT hub, was left out of this major initiative.
“Bengaluru voted for NDA but all we get is step motherly treatment. Citizens here are very angry and upset at you folks repeatedly ignoring us in the South! Are we children of a lesser God here?” Pai tweeted.
On Tuesday, Pradhan inaugurated AI Centres at three prestigious institutions: IIT-Kanpur, IIT-Ropar, and a joint centre at IIT-Delhi and AIIMS. The absence of Bengaluru prompted Pai to express his concerns publicly.
Vembu, who was part of the panel responsible for selecting the AI hubs, clarified that the decision was based on an objective evaluation process conducted by a committee largely made up of experts from the South.
“The committee itself had plenty of us from the South (probably the majority). Most of us came from the private sector and the government did not tell us who we should select,” Vembu said.
The Zoho CEO further emphasised that the committee members, including himself, had carefully evaluated each location before making their decision, and dismissed the notion of regional bias.
“We in the committee (again with so many of us from the South and so many from the private sector) did the selection based on a very thorough evaluation of actual projects done,” he said.
Vembu urged people not to drag the North-South political divide into the conversation. “The responsibility for this decision on the AI Centres of Excellence should be with us in the committee and personally with me as co-chair and I beg people to not inject North-South politics in this.”
Take a look at his post here:
HERE’S WHAT MOHANDAS PAI HAD SAID:
Pai’s post expressed frustration over what he viewed as Bengaluru’s neglect despite its contributions to the IT sector.
Tagging both the ministers, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Pai asked why the South, and Bengaluru in particular, had been ignored.
“Minister Dharmendra Pradhan nothing in Bengaluru, the technology capital of India? Why are you and Ashwini Vaishnaw ignoring the South in IT, ignoring Bengaluru? Are we not part of Bharat too? Bengaluru voted for NDA but all we get is step motherly treatment.,” Pai said.
He further pointed out that the people of Karnataka were growing increasingly frustrated with what he described as “repeated neglect”.
“Citizens here are very angry and upset at you folks repeatedly ignoring us in the South! Are we children of a lesser God here? We need our PM Narendra Modi to intervene, and give us our share too.” he said.
Tagging the members of parliaments of NDA from the state, he further asked, “What are our MPs doing.”
In addition, Pai also slammed the state government for not investing adequately in Bengaluru for supporting NDA in previous elections.
“For voting NDA our state govt too is ignoring us! Not investing enough in Bengaluru,” he said.
Take a look at his post here:
The newly launched AI Centres of Excellence will focus on key sectors including healthcare, agriculture, and sustainable urban development. Each centre is expected to drive interdisciplinary research, develop cutting-edge applications, and provide scalable solutions to address pressing national challenges.