New Delhi, July 15
A day after Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) chairman Mukesh Ambani met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, it was confirmed that the meeting was primarily to get support on the trust vote on July 22.
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) also confirmed that the meeting had nothing to do with the “corporate affairs” of the warring brothers.
The meeting between the country’s richest businessman and the Prime Minister yesterday had sparked off speculation that Mukesh Ambani was in town trying to save his business interests in the face of an onslaught from the Congress’ new-found ally Samajwadi Party (SP), whose general secretary Amar Singh is known to be a close friend of the younger Ambani, Anil.
As there was speculation that the PMO was taking personal interest in the spat between the Ambani brothers over R-Com’s interest in South African telecom giant MTN, the South Block was quick to react clarifying that too much was being read into the Prime Minister’s meeting.
The PMO categorically stated: “The Prime Minister meets corporate leaders all the time to discuss economic issues and the PM does not get involved in corporate affairs.”
The two brothers have been daggers drawn over the past few weeks after the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications (R-Com) evinced interest in the South African telecom giant MTN and attempted to merge/ takeover the company either through a share swap or through direct buy out.
This forced the RIL to send out letters to MTN and R-Com saying the it had the first right to refusal and was determined to press for a resolution of the issue of the “right to first refusal” of the R-Com shares through arbitration as provided in the non-compete agreement. This had forced SP leader Amar Singh to come out with a statement asking the PMO to intervene in the spat.
The Congress’ former ally in the UPA, the CPM targeted the Prime Minister during the day and categorically said the PMO should not become a “conciliation office” for warring corporates, who were “openly lobbying” for their interests ahead of the trust vote on July 22.
