Watch: 'Not scared to be seen with industrialists,' says Modi
Modi
Modi's comments are thought to be an answer to Congress President Rahul Gandhi's charge that he is close to industrialists and that they are the ones who benefit from his rule rather than the common man
"I am not scared to beseen with industrialists," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Sunday. Modi was speaking at the launch of 81 investment projects in Lucknow.
The launch was attended by captains of industry and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
There are people like that, said Modi. You will never see a picture of them with an industrialist but, he added, there isn't a single industrialist who hasn't been to their homes.
Modi then cracked a joke at Amar Singh's expense, saying the former Samajwadi Party leader was at the launch and he would be able to recount the entire history of politicians hobnobbing quietly with industrialists.
But if your intentions — "niyat, iraade" — are correct, said Modi, then you can be seen standing next to anybody. He then gave the example of how Mahatma Gandhi and GD Birla were close.
Just like a farmer, an industrialist also has a hand in building this country, said Modi.
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Watch video below:
Modi has often been attacked for his alleged links to industrialists.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi has called his government a "suit-boot ki sarkar", or one that works for big industrialists and not the commmon man. Gandhi has recently been attacking Modi over the Rafale deal — he says the incumbent NDA government is paying more for the jets than the price negotiated with the French government by the former UPA adminstration.
Gandhi has also asked why the public-sector Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) was jettisoned as Dassault's (the company which makes the Rafale) India partner and the contract instead given to Anil Ambani's Reliance Defence, a company with no experience in the aviation industry.