# Congress slams PM Modi over US green card ban on IT firms

2026-10-09T06:12:03+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk

Corroboration: 2 independent outlets

The US on Thursday, 8 October, suspended eight IT firms including Microsoft, Infosys, TCS and Wipro from a green card programme, accusing them of shutting out American workers. Vice President J. D. Vance said Microsoft laid off 6,000 US workers in 2025 while filing for thousands of foreign-worker visas. Congress MP Jairam Ramesh said the US action proves appeasing bullies never pays and that PM Modi, 'under siege on GyaneshGate', will not retaliate using laws such as the Digital Personal Data Protection Act. Karnataka IT Minister Priyank Kharge said the suspension could create new opportunities for India's domestic tech landscape. Nasscom said Indian firms have reduced H-1B dependence and expanded local US hiring, and that the decision halts a specific residency route, not skilled talent mobility. The industry body said it is confident firms will continue to comply with US regulations.

## Indian Opinion Analysis

Congress's Jairam Ramesh frames the U.S. suspension as a direct consequence of the Modi government 'appeasing' the Trump administration, linking it to the UPI MDR decision and the 'GyaneshGate' controversy to argue the PM is too compromised to retaliate. Mathrubhumi also carries this attack but, crucially, it includes a separate Karnataka minister's view of potential opportunities and a detailed Nasscom statement defending Indian IT firms' compliance and reduced H-1B reliance. The coverage is therefore split: one outlet leads with and amplifies the opposition's political attack, the other balances that attack with industry and official rebuttals. The combined account shows the Congress trying to weaponise a trade action domestically, while the industry pushes back to limit reputational damage. Nasscom's statement, which Mathrubhumi alone reports, is the concrete next step in the public narrative.

## Coverage

Coverage: 2 sources, 1 government-critical, 1 neutral
- thehindu.com (government critical) <https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/congress-says-pm-under-gyaneshgate-siege/article71562610.ece>
  leads with and amplifies Congress attack, omits industry response
- mathrubhumi.com (neutral report) <https://english.mathrubhumi.com/news/india/us-bars-indian-it-firms-green-card-perm-programme-jairam-ramesh-vd5nzyka>
  balanced: carries attack, industry rebuttal and minister view

This brief was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry.

Tags: Infosys, Jairam Ramesh, Narendra Modi, Nasscom, Tata Consultancy Services, U.S. Department of Labor
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Cite: https://indianopinion.org/congress-slams-pm-modi-over-us-green-card-ban-on-it-firms/#story-in-brief

How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/
