I'm Not Anti-Business, I'm Anti-Monopoly: Rahul Gandhi

Rahul Gandhi asserted that he was not "anti-business" as being projected by the BJP but was "anti-monopoly".

New Delhi: Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi asserted on Thursday that he is not "anti-business" as being projected by the BJP but "anti-monopoly" and "anti-creating oligopolies". Gandhi also claimed that after an article written by him was published in a newspaper, many play-fair businesses have told him that a senior minister has been calling and forcing them to say good things on social media about Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the government's programmes.

The Congress leader's remarks came a day after he wrote an opinion piece in "The Indian Express". The article said the original East India Company wound up its operations more than 150 years ago but the raw fear it used to generate then is back now, with a new breed of monopolists having taken its place. Gandhi, however, had also asserted that a "new deal for progressive Indian business is an idea whose time has come".

In a video posted on X on Thursday, Gandhi said, "I want to make something absolutely clear, I have been projected by my opponents in the BJP to be anti-business. I am not anti-business in the least, I am anti-monopoly, I am anti-creating oligopolies, I am anti-domination of business by one or two or five people." "I started my career as a management consultant and I understand the type of things that are required for a business to succeed. So I just want to repeat, I am not anti-business, I am anti-monopoly," the former Congress chief said.

In a post accompanying the video, Gandhi said, "I am pro-Jobs, pro-Business, pro-Innovation, pro-Competition. I am anti-Monopoly." "Our economy will thrive when there is free and fair space for all businesses," he asserted. In another post on the microblogging platform, Gandhi said, "After my article, many play-fair businesses are telling me that a senior minister has been calling and forcing them to say good things on social media about PM Modi and the govt's programmes. Proves my point exactly!"

In his article, Gandhi said India was silenced by the East India Company and it was silenced not by the company's business prowess, but by its chokehold. The company choked India by partnering with, bribing and threatening more pliant maharajas and nawabs, he pointed out. "It controlled our banking, bureaucratic and information networks. We did not lose our freedom to another nation; we lost it to a monopolistic corporation that ran a coercive apparatus," he said.

The original East India Company wound up its operations more than 150 years ago, but the raw fear it used to generate then is back, the Congress leader claimed. A new breed of monopolists has taken its place, amassing colossal wealth, even as India has become far more unequal and unfair for everyone else, he said.

"It seems that companies like Tynor, InMobi, Manyavar, Zomato, Fractal Analytics, Araku Coffee, Tredence, Amagi, iD Fresh Food, PhonePe, Moglix, Sula Vineyards, Juspay, Zerodha, Veritas, Oxyzo, Avendus, from the younger lot, and L&T, Haldiram's, Aravind Eye Hospital, Indigo, Asian Paints, HDFC group, Bajaj Auto and Bajaj Finance, Cipla, Mahindra Auto, Titan, from the older lot -- most I hardly know personally -- are a tiny sample of homegrown companies that have innovated and chosen to play by the rules," he said.

Gandhi said he was sure that he had left out hundreds of names that fit the bill even better. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) slammed Gandhi for making "baseless accusations" against Modi and asked him to examine facts before jumping to conclusions.

Hitting back at the Congress leader, the saffron party wrote on X: "Another baseless accusation against the Modi government through the so-called 'match-fixing monopoly groups versus fair-play businesses' is simply misleading." "Dear Baalak Buddhi, do not jump to conclusions without examining facts," it said, in a veiled reference to Gandhi.

It also shared on X video clips of the top executives of nine companies, including Zomato, Haldiram's, Tynor, Larsen & Toubro and Moglix, named by Gandhi in his article, and asked the Congress leader to listen to their views on Modi's leadership and economic policies. "Listen to what these companies have to say about the support they've received from PM Modi," the BJP said.