Singh, Rahul to attend Ficci annual meeting

Their attendance will be effort to woo the industry ahead of the upcoming general elections

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi are likely to attend the 86th  annual general meeting (AGM) of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) on December 21.

According to Ficci sources, Singh has confirmed his presence, while Gandhi is yet to do so.  

A Congress party source told Business Standard : “We have got an invitation. But it is too early to confirm whether Rahul would be attending the meeting.”

Gandhi had met the top brass at Ficci, including president Naina Lal Kidwai and secretary-general

A Didar Singh, on October 26. He had said he wanted to engage business in the country’s growth. Gandhi’s moves to engage with the business community is seen as a strategy against the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) much-hyped model of economic growth. “Rahul Gandhi’s endorsement of the importance of projects like the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor and National Industrial Manufacturing Zones are well placed as these will create an enabling environment for industrial growth,” Kidwai had told Business Standard.

Apart from the two Congress leaders, BJP stalwart Arun Jaitley is also likely to attend the upcoming annual general meeting.

It was the prime minister who inaugurated the Ficci annual general meeting on December 15 last year, followed by marking his presence at the Confederation of Indian Industry AGM in April and Assocham annual general meeting in July.

In April, Gujarat chief minister and the BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi had taken a dig at Gandhi at a Ficci Ladies Organisation function, commenting on his “Kalavati” remark in Parliament and the subsequent media attention on it.