Ambani vs Ambani: Mukesh to meet Sonia Gandhi today

Reliance Industries' owner and the country's richest man, Mukesh Ambani is going to meet Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Monday evening. He is also meeting the Petroleum Minister Murli Deora and the Cabinet Secretary.

The meetings assume signifinance because they comes against the backdrop of Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh calling for Prime Ministerial intervention on the corporate battle between the Ambani brothers.

Amar Singh is close to Mukesh's younger brother Anil Ambani. He has also demanded a windfall tax on exports of petroleum companies, which is said to be directly targeted at the elder Ambani brother.

Singh's clout has grown ever since the Samajwadi Party joined hands with the UPA on the Indo-US nuclear deal.

Speaking to CNN-IBN Editor-in-Chief Rajdeep Sardesai, Amar Singh called Mukesh Ambani approach to the MTN deal as "disgusting" and claimed the fight between the two brothers was detrimental to the interests of the country.

"It is a personal matter and it cannot be sorted by someone like me. You need a man of Manmohan Singh's stature at least to intervene because I agree with you that nation's economy will get hurt," Amar Singh had said.

"Anil and Mukesh don't represent only their respective corporate groups. They represent major economic hub of this country and their fight will be definitely detrimental to the interest of shareholders and in some way to the economy of the nation. The way Mukesh is opposing this MTN deal is very disgusting because it is good for the country. At times the reaction of Anil's camp may also be detrimental. So in the circumstances somebody as senior as the Prime Minister must intervene," he had added.

Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani command 30 per cent of the nations wealth between themselves, but now the fierce rivalry between the brothers in the corporate world is threatening to spill over into the political realm.

In the last 10 days, as he stitched together an alliance with the ruling UPA, Amar Singh has sent out atleast five letters on various policy issues that concern the Ambani brothers.

CNN-IBN is in possession of these letters. In a letter dated July 2, Amar Singh raises questions on the specturm allocation issue - a contentious issue that directly concerns Anil Ambani-owned Reliance communications.

In another letter, dated July 4, he raises questions on why the Government is not imposing a windfall tax on petroleum companies, an issue that direcrly affects RIL boss Mukesh Ambani.


Courtesy:ibnlive.com
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