Modi And Markets: Arguments for Transformation

by Dhiraj Nayyar

The genes of the Congress descend from its first family. Neither Sonia Gandhi, nor the President, Rahul Gandhi uttered a word to support foreign investment in retail. That they allowed, in steely silence, the public spectacle of a humiliating surrender by the government is sufficient indication of their real view on foreign investment in retail. The reason why the mother–son duo never supported economic reform in public, is because the economics of the free market is an antithesis of the politics of inheritance. The free market brings with it the principle of merit and the importance of individual, self-made achievement. The Indian State, mired in the politics of populism, has never had any regard for merit, even less for talent. It has usually thrived on lineage, connections and narrow parochial politics.