The World Economic Forum has perhaps for the first time completely blacked out the Opposition from the India Economic Summit, whose 25th edition concluded on Tuesday. The only representation from a party not in power was again Congress’s Oommen Chandy from Kerala, who sits in Opposition in his state.

That in the three-day networking opportunity for global and Indian CEOs, the shadow of the Opposition and its views were missing did not go unnoticed. Former senior bureaucrat and columnist, N K Singh, a speaker—not in his capacity as a Rajya Sabha member from the Janata Dal (United)— in one of the sessions told The Indian Express, “It is a one-sided story. In such a forum, you need diverse views. I am going to take it up.”

Even last year, the World Economic Forum had chief ministers from Rajasthan and Karnataka, both from the BJP, representing the Opposition. When contacted, Sushant Rao, Director, Head of Asia, World Economic Forum, who put together the 25th edition said, “Last year, it was not clear who will return to power. Moreover, in the first year of the new government, the global audience is keen to get a sense of what is on the agenda.”

While Tarun Das, who stepped down as the Confederation of Indian Industry’s Chief Mentor, said he was not really involved in the nitty-gritties, Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII, said, “The focus this year clearly was ‘What is India doing in terms of the new government framework’?” He said N K Singh did mention the issue to him, and CII viewed it as a “good feedback.”

... contd.