Rahul Gandhi alleges ’senior minister’ forcing ’play-fair businesses’ to praise PM Modi

In a tweet following the release of his recent op-ed, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi made an allegation against the government, claiming that several "play-fair businesses" have been pressured by a "senior minister" to praise Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the government's programs on social media.

The minister in question has not been mentioned in the tweet by Rahul Gandhi.

Rahul Gandhi wrote, "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 programs. Proves my point exactly!"

This statement came after Rahul Gandhi's op-ed in The Indian Express, in which he criticized monopolistic practices in India, alleging that powerful corporations and business leaders were operating under coercive pressure from the government. He emphasized that businesses were often forced into compliance with the government's wishes, stifling competition and innovation in the process.

Rahul Gandhi's remarks follow ongoing debates about the role of corporate interests in shaping political discourse and policy in the country.

Rahul Gandhi criticizes monopolistic practices

In the op-ed, Rahul Gandhi drew a stark comparison between the colonial-era East India Company and today's corporate monopolies, accusing them of stifling competition. Rahul Gandhi argued that India’s loss of freedom was not due to foreign invasions but rather due to the chokehold of monopolistic corporations that manipulate the system.

"The original East India Company wound up over 150 years ago, but the raw fear it then generated is back. 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," Rahul Gandhi wrote.

"I know that hundreds of India’s brilliant and dynamic business leaders are scared of the monopolists. Are you one of them? Scared to talk on the phone? Scared of the monopolists colluding with the state to enter your sector and crush you?" Rahul Gandhi continued.

"You know that describing these oligarchic groups as businesses is misleading. When you compete with them, you are not competing with a company, you are fighting the machinery of the Indian state. Their core competence is not products, consumers or ideas, it is their ability to control India’s governing institutions and regulators — and, in surveillance," Rahul Gandhi further stated in the op-ed.

"In contrast to the “match-fixing” monopoly groups, there is a larger number of amazing “play-fair” Indian businesses, from micro-enterprises to large corporations, but you are silent. You persevere in an oppressive system," Rahul Gandhi went on to say in the op-ed.