The government cannot be allowed to support one business at the expense of all others, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi wrote in an editorial in The Indian Express on Wednesday.
“The original East India Company wound up over 150 years ago,” the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha said. “But the raw fear it then generated is back. A new breed of monopolists has taken its place.”
Gandhi said these monopolists had accumulated “colossal wealth” while the country grew “far more unequal and unfair” for the rest of the population.
“Our institutions no longer belong to our people, they do the bidding of monopolists,” he added.
While it wasn’t clear who Gandhi was referring to, the Congress has frequently accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union government of favouring conglomerates owned by industrialists Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani.
In the editorial on Wednesday, the Congress leader said that labelling these “oligarchic groups” as businesses was misleading. When other businesses competed with these groups, they were fighting the “machinery of the Indian state” and not only the companies, he added.
“Their core competence is not products, consumers or ideas, it is their ability to control India’s governing institutions and regulators – and, in surveillance,” he said. “Today, market forces do not determine success, power relations do.”
However, there are a larger number of “play-fair” Indian businesses in contrast to the “match-fixing” monopoly groups, the Congress leader said. “You persevere in an oppressive system,” he added.
Gandhi gave the example of eyewear company Lenskart and the information technology firm Tata Consultancy Services, among others, as a “tiny sample of homegrown companies” that had innovated and chosen to play by the rules.
“My politics has always been about protecting the weak and voiceless,” Gandhi said. “My politics will aim to provide you with what you have been denied – fairness and freedom to operate.”
The Congress leader also said that government agencies were not “weapons” to be used to “attack and intimidate” businesses.
“That said, I do not believe that fear should be transferred from you to these big monopolists,” Gandhi said. “They are not evil individuals, but simply the outcome of the deficiencies of our societal and political environment. They should get space, and so should you.”
He also said that India’s banks should “overcome their fascination for the top 100 well-connected borrowers with their attendant NPAs [Non-Performing Assets]” and discover the profit pools in lending and supporting “play-fair” businesses.
“Finally, we must not underestimate the power of social pressure and resistance in moulding political behaviour,” Gandhi said. “You are the change that will generate wealth and employment for all.”
He added: “I believe a new deal for progressive Indian business is an idea whose time has come.”
On October 29, Gandhi alleged that the Adani Group was benefiting from a “syndicate” seeking to secure monopolies for the conglomerate in India’s civil aviation, shipping, cement, power and defence industries.
He claimed that the Union government and its regulatory bodies, such as the Securities and Exchange Board of India, were part of a “dangerous nexus” at the heart of the alleged syndicate.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!