I'm not anti-business, I'm anti-monopoly: Rahul Gandhi
New Delhi (PTI): Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Thursday asserted that he was not "anti-business" as being projected by the BJP but was "anti-monopoly" and "anti-creating oligopolies".
His remarks came a day after he penned an opinion piece in The Indian Express in which he said the original East India Company wound up over 150 years ago but the raw fear it then generated is back with a new breed of monopolists having taken its place.
Gandhi, however, had 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 2 or 5 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 his 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," Gandhi asserted.
In his article, Gandhi had said India was silenced by the East India Company and it was silenced not by its 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 didn't 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 over 150 years ago, but the raw fear it then generated is back, he claimed.
A new breed of monopolists has taken its place, amassing colossal wealth, even as India has become far more unequal and unfair for everybody else, Gandhi had said.
The BJP had slammed Gandhi for making "baseless accusations" against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and asked him to examine facts before jumping to conclusions.
Hitting back at the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, the BJP 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," the saffron party said in a veiled reference to Gandhi.
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Bengal: Hours after killing of Suvendu's aide, cops say 5 BJP workers injured in bomb attack
Kolkata (PTI): Five BJP supporters have been injured allegedly in a bomb blast in Panihati in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district, police said on Thursday.
The incident occurred late on Wednesday night, hours after Chandranath Rath, a close aide of BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, was shot dead by motorcycle-borne assailants, which led to the saffron camp accusing the TMC of unleashing retaliatory violence.
The bomb blast occurred near St Xavier's Institution in Panihati. Unidentified assailants hurled crude bombs at a group of BJP workers, injuring at least five people, police said, adding the injured were admitted to the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.
According to local sources, BJP workers were interacting with residents on Dutta Road in Panihati's Ward number 2 when a group of motorcycle-borne persons allegedly targeted them with bombs before fleeing.
The BJP alleged that the attackers were backed by the ruling Trinamool Congress, an allegation denied by the Mamata Banerjee-led party.
A senior police official said, "We have started an investigation and are examining CCTV footage from the surrounding areas to identify those involved. Raids are being conducted to nab the accused."
A heavy police deployment has been made in the area.
"We are maintaining strict vigil and appealing to people not to spread rumours. Necessary steps are being taken to maintain peace," the officer added.
Incidentally, the area where the blast occurred is located near the residence of newly elected BJP MLA Ratna Debnath, the mother of the RG Kar Hospital rape victim.
