Bengaluru: After meeting farmers and youngsters during his two-day visit to the state, AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi will also meet top-notch start-up CEOs on the first day of his visit on Friday.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, a senior leader in the state disclosed that the AICC has almost finalised big names like 20-25 top notch CEOs including those of Bigbasket, Ispirit and Ola Cabs who have agreed to take part in this meeting. "Mr Gandhi has been holding such meetings whenever he is on a state visit. He held his first such meeting in Delhi sometime in July itself. He feels that the ability of start-ups will fundamentally alter the way we live and work - best exemplified by how transport choices in metros have been upended by the likes of Uber and Ola and shopping by Flipkart and Snapdeal and their ability to generate well-paying, blue-collar jobs - generating a lot of interest in policy makers and politicians," the source explained. Mr Gandhi’s meeting comes amidst a raging controversy over many start-up giants shifting base from Bengaluru to Telangana.
The source added that the meeting will be attended by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, ministers concerned and CEOs and will be held at Kumarakrupa Guest House. "Despite his hectic schedule on the first day, he feels the meeting with start-up CEOs is necessary as these start-ups are also running into political and regulatory issues. He is aware of Amazon and Flipkart's issues with the state commercial taxes department and taxi aggregators' issues with various city transport departments," the source explained.
The source added that Mr Gandhi was keen on taking up issues raised by entrepreneurs and work with those across the political spectrum on this. "We may not be in power at the Centre but definitely, this will give us an opportunity to rectify our policy decisions in states where Congress is in power. Therefore, he is keen to meet entrepreneurs," the source contended.
Media likely to be kept at bay during Rahul’s visit
Media personnel are likely to be kept away during the visit of AICC Vice-President Rahul Gandhi's visit to houses of two deceased farmers in Mandya district as well as his interaction with progressive farmers, students and agriculture scientists at VC Farm on October 9.
According to sources, Mr Rahul will be visiting Kanakanahalli and Kotthatthi villages in Mandya taluk where two farmers, Mahesh and Made Gowda had committed suicide. Both the villages are situated within 10 km of Mandya city. Before meeting the
families of deceased farmers, Mr Rahul will be holding a brief meeting with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and a few ministers to collect information from them about the steps taken by the government to mitigate the travails of farmers in Karnataka.
From there, he will be coming to the VC Farm where he will be interacting with progressive farmers, agriculture college students and agriculture scientists. The capacity of the auditorium is about 200 because of which entry for mediapersons is expected to be banned.
