New Delhi, December 4
Even as an enthralled nation follows the ups and downs in ongoing feud between the Ambani brothers, the saga acquired a fresh twist today when Reliance Chairman Mukesh Ambani met Congress President Sonia Gandhi for the first time after this crisis erupted.
The meeting, which lasted 15 minutes at Mrs Gandhi’s official 10, Janpath residence, was described by Congress functionaries as a mere “courtsey call”.
Although no details were divulged about this meeting, the fact that the Reliance Chairman chose to call on Mrs Gandhi at this juncture was enough to set the Capital’s political circles abuzz. “It was a good meeting ...The fact that Mr Mukesh Ambani met the Congress President is in itself a clear signal,” remarked a senior Congress leader.
It is certainly no coincidence that the meeting took place at a time when there are serious differences between Mr Mukesh Ambani and his younger brother Anil Ambani. A host of reasons are being cited for this discord but the last straw apparently came when Mr Anil Ambani aligned himself openly with the Samajwadi Party and entered the Rajya Sabha with its support. The older Ambani brother, it is learnt, did not approve of his brother taking to active politics.
The fact that the younger Anil Ambani has more than friendly relations with SP leader Amar Singh and superstar Amitabh Bachchan, who are both persona non grata at 10,Janpath, only made matters worse. It is reliably learnt that once the Congress came back to power, the Ambanis found themselves cold-shouldered by the powers-that-be. Mr Mukesh Ambani’s meeting with Ms Gandhi was being seen as an attempt at building bridges with the present-day political decision-makers.
The younger Ambani is also learnt to have sought an appointment with the Congress President but has not been granted an audience.
Mr Anil Ambani, who finds all his powers usurped by his elder brother, has been tapping all sources to seek political mediation. He had recently called on Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is known to his parents, and asked the minister to speak to his mother about a rapproachment.
In fact, Mr Anil Ambani had called on Mrs Sonia Gandhi a day before the declaration of the Lok Sabha election results. There were signs then that the Congress would do better than expected and would need the support of SP’s Mulayam Singh Yadav to form the government. It was speculated then that the younger Ambani had come to plead Mr Yadav’s case.
