Congress should take poll results as a wake-up call: India Inc

India Inc honchos cheer AAP's stellar debut in the capital; say UPA government's unconvincing approach towards corruption cost it dearly

Corporate India has welcomed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s victory in Assembly elections in four key places and said the Congress should take the results as a wake-up call and work on providing a corruption-free government.

"This (election results) was more or less expected. The Congress should see it as a wake-up call now. Even the Chhattisgarh result is not much of a concern for industry, which is expecting a change in the next general election," said Harsh Mariwala, chairman, Marico.

The stellar debut performance by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on the anti-corruption plank also received good response from corporate leaders. "The AAP's amazing debut says it all - people want corruption-free politics based on transparency and responsibility," said Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, chairman of Biocon. "The Congress has been shown the door for poor political leadership and an unconvincing approach to corruption. A thumping endorsement for AAP," she added.

Others had a similar viewpoint. Anand Mahindra, chairman of the Mahindra group, tweeted after the results, "AAP's dramatic debut shows we want desperately to be idealistic and not cynical. That honesty is not just the best policy but the best politics."

Narendra Modi, the BJP's prime ministerial candidate, was able to pull votes for the party with its development plank, according to chief executive officers (CEOs). Some leading corporate leaders, including the Tata Group's Chairman emeritus Ratan Tata and Bharti group Chairman Sunil Mittal have praised Modi's leadership in Gujarat. CEOs said the results would give a boost to Modi's campaign.

The CEO of a multinational company said, "The people of India are fed up with the corruption in the UPA government. Besides, Modi's good governance record in Gujarat has worked in the BJP's favour," asking not to be named.

A stable and pro-reform government at the Centre after next year's elections will help revive investment and give a boost to economic reforms, he added.

According to the CEOs, the United Progressive Alliance government's failure to contain rising prices that is impacting the poor was another reason why the Congress did not receive good response from the public.

Habil Khorakiwala, chairman, Wockhardt, said, "The result shows the Congress is still on the back foot. It's really a people's verdict, making a clear selection between the BJP and the Congress. AAP's growth is also amazing. However, regional parties will also play key roles in the Lok Sabha elections in 2014. As said earlier, India Inc always wants an active government, with clean administration."

CEOs say a good and stable government is the need of the hour, as corporate earnings and new projects are not expected to pick up for the next six months. "Even after the PM cleared various stalled projects, nothing changed on the ground. Many projects are stuck due to lack of clearances and corruption in getting any clearances, while interacting with the government is another reason why corporate leaders are not happy with the UPA government," said the CEO of a leading infrastructure company.

Many corporate leaders are also unhappy with the fact that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has targeted so many top groups such as Aditya Birla, Essar, Tatas and Reliance Industries.

The promoter of a large conglomerate, on condition of anonymity, said, "This has taken away a lot of enthusiasm among corporate leaders to invest in India and we are hoping Modi will change things, which will encourage investment in India and create new jobs within the country."