A day after former Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal addressed captains of the industry at a Confederation of Indian Industry or CII meet in Delhi, Bajaj Auto managing director Rajiv Bajaj came out in strong support of the maverick politician.
"If I may say so I'm a fan of Arvind Kejriwal. And I hope he wouldn't mind my saying this that I have had the occasion to meet him on more than once and I resonate very strongly with his thoughts and ideologies," Mr Bajaj told NDTV. (Watch: Video)
On how the year-old the AAP is likely to fare in the upcoming general elections, Mr Bajaj said he would not like to hazard a guess and didn't know "which way the wind is blowing" but added that he had faith Mr Kejriwal's skills as a leader.
"...leadership makes all the difference. At the end of the day we have to bet on leaders. My personal sense is Arvind Kejriwal is a leader who is worthy of having bets placed on him," he said.
Mr Bajaj said the country was riddled with corruption and something as simple as getting one's vehicle registered at the RTO (Regional Transport Office) couldn't be done without paying a bribe.
"If you're conditioned then you get the government you deserve. But if you want to see change then I think as someone said...if you want something new you have to stop doing something old," he said.
On Monday Mr Kejriwal had sought to assure India Inc. that his Aam Aadmi Party is "not against business."
"We are not against capitalism, we're against crony capitalism... It's a wrong perception that AAP is against business. Of course we need businesses," Mr Kejriwal said while addressing top industrialists at the CII meet.
During his brief term as Chief Minister that lasted 49 days, Mr Kejriwal increased subsidies for power and water. His cabinet overturned the previous government's decision on FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) in retail, effectively preventing Walmart from opening shop in the national capital.
But perhaps his most controversial decision was to file a first information report or FIR against Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani and Petroleum Minister Veerappa Moily for allegedly creating an artificial shortage of gas in the country and raising its prices.
However not all industry bigwigs seem as sold on Mr Kejriwal and his politics. India Inc reacted with caution to the AAP chief's speech yesterday, with most saying that while his fight against corruption is welcome, his economic vision was not clear yet.
"It is very important that we fight corruption, reduce corruption. But it is also very important that we have a good economic policy that creates development and jobs in the country. And I think the Aam Aadmi Party should improve their views in that direction," Adi Godrej of Godrej Industries said.
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