Serial entrepreneur Rajesh Sawhney stirred up a storm on X this weekend with a publish praising Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Gurugram as “cities constructed by migrants”—solely to face a swift backlash from locals defending the deep-rooted legacy of their hometowns, significantly Bengaluru.
In his publish, Sawhney wrote, “Mumbai, Bangalore and Gurugram—these three Indian cities have been constructed by migrants and are probably the most cosmopolitan in nature.” He credited migrants with remodeling sleepy cities into hubs of finance, know-how, and entrepreneurship.
He described Mumbai as the unique enterprise capital, formed by nationwide expertise drawn to MNCs, banks, and industrial homes—from the Tatas to Adanis. He claimed Bengaluru was a quiet metropolis till the IT growth, attracting expertise from throughout southern India. Gurugram, he mentioned, developed from a dusty village right into a startup hotspot due to BPOs and entrepreneurial migrants.
“Natives have benefited enormously from these transformations and will rejoice this contribution by the migrants as a substitute of being instigated by Politicians to resent migrants,” Sawhney wrote.
That sentiment didn’t sit nicely with many Bengalureans. One consumer replied: “Bangalore was a sleepy city? Actually? Please do your analysis.” They identified pre-IT establishments like HAL, DRDO, and BEML that formed Bengaluru’s industrial id lengthy earlier than the tech growth.
One other consumer wrote, “Kempegowda constructed a metropolis 500 years in the past with city planning. Bengaluru acquired electrical energy earlier than most of Asia. It attracted PSUs and IISc lengthy earlier than startups arrived.”
Others accused Sawhney of dismissing native legacy in favor of a migrant-centric narrative. “Humble request to all migrants: return and construct your native locations. Bengaluru will turn into a greater place with out you,” one consumer wrote, echoing a rising sentiment round overpopulation and cultural erosion in main Indian cities.
Whereas some agreed with Sawhney’s view on cosmopolitan progress, the bigger response mirrored rising unease about city congestion, infrastructure pressure, and a perceived lack of respect for native historical past and tradition.
