'Don't kill the goose': Rahul Gandhi questions drone ban, sparks debate

A video of Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi speaking on the ban of drones and its consequences is now making rounds on social media.

In the video, Gandhi can be seen narrating a story from 2016 when he met the director of Special Protection Group (SPG). The Congress leader said that the director was invited to his house and upon entering was shown a drone.

"I used to fly and I used to make drones. So, I had a drone and flew it in my garden in front of him," Gandhi said.

While flying the drone, Gandhi quipped, "Isn't this going to be a security problem for you?" The meeting concluded and the SPG director went back to his place. The leader of opposition claimed that it was only a few days later when the government introduced a countrywide ban on the use of civilian drone.

Gandhi said that he had only made the security remark as joke. "Please understand the power, the one guy who happens to be security can explode the entire industry in a second," Gandhi said.

The Congress leader went on to say that if one "bureaucrat" can shake the entire industry then it is not just a security issue but instead a billions of dollar industry.

Acknowledging that there is a security threat which can heightened with the unrestricted use of drones, Gandhi said that we need to deal with it accordingly but "we don't kill the goose."

"Government has to allow these conversations and these conversations start with you (citizens of the country), not some bureaucrat," he added.

Gandhi has come under fire for his views on drones. In 2025, the BJP government criticised Gandhi,  for using a banned Chinese drone in a video he posted on social media as well as lambasting India's drone industry.

In 2022, India banned the import of foreign drones with certain exceptions in a bid to promote domestic manufacturing.