Mumbai: Leading lights of India Inc in the financial capital exercised their franchise Monday, with many seeking to dispel the notion that coalition governments are bad for the economy. Many captains of industry traded their impeccable suits for informal attire as they lined up outside polling booths, many of them located inside civic body-run schools.
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das was seen standing in a queue outside one such polling station, voting for the first time in Mumbai after shifting from New Delhi following his appointment as the central bank chief in December. ,After exercising his franchise at a booth in tony South Mumbai, home to most of the rich and famous, Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra seemed to suggest that there was no need to fear coalitions.
“We have all been infected with the virus of progress and growth. Even if a coalition comes, it will tread on the same path and it is advantageous for us,” he told reporters. Sajjan Jindal, who heads the diversified conglomerate JSW, also seemed to be open to the idea of coalitions. “We have had coalition governments at the Centre and they have provided very good governance. There is no problem.
I think we are a very mature democracy and we have seen even coalition governments providing good governance, so I am not worried,” he told reporters after casting his vote. Issues like industrial growth, jobs and security need to be grappled with, Jindal said and underlined the need to have a stable government at the Centre which can provide continuous development.
“As long as a coalition is a strongly-bonded one, we can do well,” Godrej group chairman Adi Godrej said. India’s richest man, Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani and richest banker Uday Kotak have publicly endorsed Milind Deora, Congress candidate from Mumbai South. After casting his vote, Deepak Parekh of mortgage major HDFC, a Mumbai South voter, said local issues dominate while voting, adding he wants a stable government at the Centre.
Tata group chairman N Chandrasekaran was among the first ones to vote among India Inc leaders. Accompanied by his wife, he voted at a booth in Worli in the morning, minutes after polling began. Anil Ambani was also among the early voters who went and cast his vote at a Cuffe Parade polling station. Others who voted included BSE’s Ashish Chauhan, Mahindra managing director Pawan Goenka and managing director of foreign brokerage Morgan Stanley Riddham Desai.
