Are we really hurtling toward a five trillion dollar economy? We may be, but the India Inc is now rising against Modi Inc and making its sentiments with regards to the flailing economy heard loud and clear.
After industrialists Rahul Bajaj and Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Harsh Goenka took a dig at the government by tweeting a short satirical poem, just before deleting it within a few minutes. Before he did, screenshots of his short moment of courage to speak up against the regime had already started making the rounds.
Rahul Bajaj, at the Economic Times summit held last week had shown rare bravery by telling Amit Shah, ““In UPA 2, we could abuse anybody, that is a different matter. You are doing good work but still we don’t have the confidence that if we openly criticise you, it will be appreciated. I may be wrong, fine. But we all feel this way that, I cannot speak for everyone, but I should not be saying this.”
Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, MD Biocon, also called out the government, supporting Rahul Bajaj saying, “”Hope the government reaches out to India Inc. for working out solutions to revive consumption and growth. So far we are all pariahs and the government does not want to hear any criticism of our economy.”
Manmohan Singh at the National Economy Conclave had said, “The state of our economy is deeply worrying. But today I will argue how the state of our society is even more worrisome and that is a fundamental reason for the precarious state of our economy.”
What the poem tweeted by Goenka means
For those who do not know, the poem tweeted by Goenka, written by poet Govind Prasad is a take on the manipulation of truth and the propagation of lies.
One wonders why Goenka who has been a critic of the Maharashtra government and the Union Government in the Modi regime, would delete his tweet.
In 2015, he had tweeted against the infringing policies of the Maharashtra government saying, “Beef, Marathi movies- what next? Compulsory vada pao for lunch Compulsory to speak in Marathi Everyday temple visit a must LETS GROW UP!”
Ravish Kumar, Managing Editor, NDTV India slyly pulled up Goenka’s use of the poem saying that industrialists who were once silence about the plight of the people are now speaking up against the government when their own interests are in danger.
Calling out Goenka’s inaction, he urged him not to delete his tweet the next time he decided to speak up against the establishment.
Spiral of Silence
Yes, Rahul Bajaj dared to speak up to Shah, yes, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw echoed his sentiment and yes, Dr. Manmohan Singh wrote about how industrialists live in the fear of harassment by government authorities, but the action of Goenka deleting his tweet still shows the hesitance that India Inc has in criticizing the Modi government for fear of a backlash.
The second quarter GDP growth hit an overall 6 year low by sliding to under 5%, but the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has not issued any statement on the growth figures.
Another instance of how corporates are being quietly put in a corner is the suicide of the CEO of Café Coffee Day, VG Siddhartha. He had blamed his company’s liquidity crisis and debt issues on “harassment” by income tax authorities.
Kiran Mazumdar Shaw had earlier in the year admitted that she was told by a government official to not speak about issues regarding tax harassment by income tax officials, after the death of VG Siddhartha. She had said, the call, could be both, an advice and a warning.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharam, who came out in support of Amit Shah, hailed his response to Rahul Bajaj and said that the fact that Bajaj could ask a question itself showed there was no atmosphere of fear in the country.
And yet, she and other BJP ministers turned the tables on Bajaj calling his bravery to seek answers an attempt to gain traction and hurt national interest.
Home Minister @AmitShah answers on how issues raised by Shri. Rahul Bajaj were addressed. Questions/criticisms are heard and answered/addressed. Always a better way to seek an answer than spreading one’s own impressions which, on gaining traction, can hurt national interest. https://t.co/WytSpyRyP6
— Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) December 1, 2019
Hardeep Singh Puri, India’s Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affair too tweeted against Bajaj saying –
There are societies in the world which are governed by fear, but a society where citizens can weave fake narratives & hurl invectives at the govt cannot be classified as one governed by fear, it is a society characterized by fair dose of indiscipline.
— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) December 1, 2019
Praises galore
It must be noted that Harsh Goenka has always been appreciative of the NDA government. In March this year, he had posted a morphed video of a WWE bout between two players with superimposed faces of PM Modi and his Pakistan counterpart Imran Khan. The video showed Modi beating his opponent and winning the bout, reported Business Standard.
WWF #INDvsPAK pic.twitter.com/DwkHy7baOE
— Harsh Goenka (@hvgoenka) March 3, 2019
In September, he had hailed the corporate tax relief as a ‘virat’ (giant) cut by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
‘Virat’ cut by FM #Corporatetax. Much needed boost to unleash ‘animal spirits’. I now expect the sentiment to change and private investments to start flowing. Sensex ‘boom’rah!
— Harsh Goenka (@hvgoenka) September 20, 2019
However, he is yet to say anything regarding the GDP decline like his industrialist counterparts.
So, what do we say about Harsh Goenka’s recent twitter activity? Is it just the action of a poor businessman saving his business? But won’t doing so hurt his relationship with his fellow business mates who are finally showing some spine and raising their voices against the convoluted business policies of the government?
Whether Goenka’s decision to delete the tweet was taken out of fear or not, it is sure that the repercussions of silence will be borne by India Inc if even one of them prefers silence over vehement criticism.
Related:
Rare moments of candour, when corporate India has spoken against a vindictive Modi regime