There was a mad rush to reserve the best seats ever since it was announced that Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi would speak at a special plenary session at the Confederation of Indian Industry’s (CII’s) annual summit on Thursday.

Follow updates on Rahul Gandhi's interaction at CII: https://twitter.com/governancenow

* Rahul tells industry captains, you are the ambassadors to the world
* Optimism is the spirit of the country, poor are not pessimist. India is bursting with dreams.
* Rahul takes a leaf out of #NarendraModi's book, talks of hope, energy
* Democracy & technology has unleashed irreversible changes in India
* Flitting between ready draft and improptu, speech is yet to take off
* Rahul makes fist connect with audience with ridiculous DGCA rules when he went for his pilot licence
* Danger to India's future is exclusion: first potshot at #NarendraModi?

This year’s annual general meeting was inaugurated by prime minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday. The session where Gandhi will speak begins shortly in the national capital.

Although the Congress scion has spent nights in dalit huts in Uttar Pradesh and rode pillion to join protesters in the past, he has faced criticism not only for his reluctance to make more public appearances, but also for not sharing his vision on how the country’s most immediate problems can be addressed. This is where the significance of his today’s appearance lies. This assumes more importance in the wake of the deep crisis that the economy is going through. Politically, it is also being seen as a move to counter Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi who is known for his good relations with the captains of the industry.

The 42-year-old Congress leader is slated to speak at a 45-minute session on the second day of the meet, which will also be attended by top business leaders and industrialists like Bharti Airtel head Sunil Bharti Mittal, Godrej Group chairman Adi Godrej and Wipro chairman Azim Premji. Industry honchos as well as the common people will get to hear Gandhi's views on economic and growth imperatives for India.

Rahul is expected to focus on the need for economic growth combined with social responsibility. He may speak on the China model or on other countries that are developing at a faster pace. He is also likely to raise UPA's ambitious direct transfer benefits scheme. He is also expected to reassure corporate leaders that his party and the government are committed to ensuring a corporate friendly regime.

Industry chamber CII's annual general meetings over the years have seen many political bigwigs across parties making appearances to pronounce their vision for economic growth. Congress president Sonia Gandhi has appeared at the annual conference at least twice in the past.

Rahul Gandhi’s earlier interaction with the industry honchos was in October 2012, when he had taken some top industry players to Jammu and Kashmir to address the problem of unemployment being faced by the youth of the troubled state. Earlier, Gandhi had taken Microsoft chief Bill Gates to his parliamentary constituency Amethi in 2010. In 2008, he visited Japan along with party leader Sachin Pilot and National Conference chief Omar Abdullah (now Jammu and Kashmir's chief minister) as part of a CII delegation.

Meanwhile, Modi too will be addressing a business chamber, Ficci, on Monday, inviting comparisons of the two PMs in waiting.