“Businesses are telling me they’re being pressured by a senior minister to praise PM Modi and government programmes”: Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took to social media on Thursday, stating that after his recent article was published, many businesses expressed feeling pressured to convey positive opinions about Prime Minister Modi and government initiatives.
“After my article, many fair-minded businesses are telling me that a senior Minister has been calling and pressuring them to make positive statements on social media about PM Modi and the government’s programmes,” he posted on X.
In an editorial published in a prominent newspaper, Rahul Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and a Congress MP, remarked, “India was silenced by the East India Company. It wasn’t silenced by its business prowess, but by its chokehold. The Company subjugated India by aligning with, bribing, and threatening our more compliant maharajas and nawabs. We didn’t lose our freedom to another nation; we lost it to a monopolistic corporation with a coercive apparatus.”
Meanwhile, several royal scions from across the country have condemned Rahul Gandhi for referring to their ancestors as “pliant Maharajas.”
Union Minister Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia, a member of the Scindia family that ruled Gwalior until India’s independence in 1947, criticised Rahul Gandhi for his remarks, stating that Gandhi should cease insulting Bharat Mata and instead learn about the true heroes of India’s history.
“If you claim to ‘uplift’ the nation, stop insulting Bharat Mata and learn about true Indian heroes like Mahadji Scindia, Yuvraj Bir Tikendrajit, Kittur Chennamma, and Rani Velu Nachiyar, who fiercely fought for our freedom. Your selective amnesia regarding your own privilege is a disservice to those genuinely striving against adversity. Your dissonance only further exposes Congress’s agenda–Rahul Gandhi is no champion of Atmanirbhar Bharat; he is merely a product of an outdated entitlement,” Scindia posted on X.
Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Diya Kumari, granddaughter of Man Singh II, the last ruling Maharaja of the princely state of Jaipur during the British Raj, criticised Rahul Gandhi’s remarks about former royal families, asserting that the vision of a unified India was realised largely due to the significant sacrifices made by these royal families.
“I strongly condemn Mr Rahul Gandhi’s attempt to malign the erstwhile royal families of India in an editorial today. The dream of an integrated India was only possible because of the immense sacrifices of the former royal families. Baseless allegations based on a half-baked interpretation of historical facts are completely unacceptable,” Diya Kumari posted on X