'Not anti-business, but...': Rahul Gandhi clears his stand on business in new video message

Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Thursday reiterated that he is not anti-business, but firmly against monopolies and the concentration of economic power. In a video message, Gandhi countered the BJP's portrayal of him as anti-business, emphasising that his stance has been misrepresented.

“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,” Gandhi said. “I am anti-monopoly. I am anti-creating oligopolies. I am anti-domination by one or two or 3 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.”

Gandhi reinforced this position on social media, stating, "Our economy will thrive when there is free and fair space for all businesses."

The BJP has often claimed that Gandhi's persistent criticism of business tycoons like Adani and Ambani proves he is anti-business. Addressing these claims, Gandhi's latest message comes a day after he published an opinion piece explaining his views on the businesses in India. He drew historical parallels with the East India Company, which he argued suppressed India not through business acumen, but through monopolistic control.

"The Company choked India by partnering with, bribing, and threatening our more pliant maharajas and nawabs. 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,” Gandhi wrote.

He stressed that while the original East India Company ceased operations over 150 years ago, the fear it once incited has resurfaced in a new form. “A new breed of monopolists has taken its place. They have amassed colossal wealth, even as India has become far more unequal and unfair for everybody else. Our institutions no longer belong to our people, they do the bidding of monopolists. Lakhs of businesses have been decimated and India is unable to generate jobs for her youth. Bharat Mata is mother to all her children. The monopolisation of her resources and power, this blatant denial of the many for the sake of a chosen few, has wounded her,” Gandhi stated.

Gandhi noted that many of India’s capable and visionary business leaders are now fearful of this monopolistic environment. Although he refrained from directly naming Adani or Ambani in his article, the underlying message was clear: his opposition lies with monopolistic practices, not business itself.